Clockwork
by Xomniac
Summary: Taylor Hebert desperately wanted two things. To be a hero, and to have some friends. Who knew that becoming one would let her make the other? EDIT: EURGH! Format is screwing me! Gonna take awhile to fix, sorry.
1. Gear 1

Disclaimer: Worm belongs to Wildbow, and Wildbow alone.

**Clockwork**

**Gear 1**

**-o-**

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

A small figure, about six inches tall, stepped back nervously. He was a robot, made of polished bronze with glowing red eyes. And he was fucking terrified.

"N-now Boss, c-come on now, i-it's not that ba-YEARGH!" He was cut off as he jumped to the side to avoid the spanner flung his way.

"NOT THAT BAD! NOT THAT BAD!? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?"

The small bot scrambled up a nearby shelf in an attempt to escape his crazed creator. "B-boss, calm down! Y-you're blowing this out of proportion!"

"NO, I AM PERFECTLY IN PROPORTION, NOW GET DOWN HERE SO I CAN DISMANTLE YOU!"

"Er, Boss?" The lanky teenage inventor whipped her head around to glare at another occupant of the room.

He was a bronze robot too, but unlike the subject of the inventor's ire, he was tall. He was about a head taller than an average human, built like a body-builder, a long strip of red cloth tied around his forehead. He had a mechanical cigar lit between his bronze jaws, smoke languidly floating out. Cogs could be seen at his joints.

"Look, I realize that Blitz screwed up," The small bot nodded vigorously from his perched position, "But I don't see why you're getting so bent outta shape! Fine, so he let the newbie out of her restraints by accident, sure she ran out, but so what? You gave her that new stealth tech and she has a tracker! We'll hunt her down before anybody sees her, you finish her up, and we're golden! Well, bronze, but the point stands."

Taylor growled in frustration. "Unless, Heavy, she were to actively _disable_ the stealth module!"

Another figure in the lab tilted his head, the lamps in his eyes adjusting to signify a cocked eyebrow. He was heavily built, bulky, with thick plates of armor and large, club-like arms. "And why would she do that?"

"Because, Hammer," Taylor held up a small circuit board. "She doesn't have_this."_

The occupants of the room stared in horror at the board. Heavy's cigar dropped out of his mouth. "Is that-?"

"Her logic processor? Yes, it is. So, to re-iterate, we have a rogue clockwork robot running around, who has fully capable stealth tech, an experimental combat-teleporter, and fully functioning weapons-systems, which are luckily set to non-lethal. Oh, and _she's insane!"_

The Heavy was silent for a minute before he reached into an opening at his side. He yanked his hand out, and along with it came a bronze mini-gun that he held firmly at his side. "Right, so I think I'll use this when we find her, and keep the bazooka warmed up just in case."

Taylor growled and shook her head. "Don't bother, I already dealt with it."

Blitz blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, let's just pray that Streak and Deadeye find her before she finds someone else."

-o-

The ABB members were praying that someone would come and save them.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed to be getting their orders about rubbing out the brats who had been screwing with them. They were supposed to march on the Undersiders, and make an example of them!

They were _not_ supposed to be ambushed by a _psychopath_ who was made of metal! And said psychopath was _not_ supposed to be able to teleport and dodge so fucking fast that Lung couldn't even begin to put a hand on her!

And the aforementioned psychopath should most definitely _not_ have been giggling and laughing like some kind of deranged school-girl!

"WEE!" She fazed into existence again, 3-foot long claws flashing again as they cut down the fleeing Asians. "THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!"

Her painted-on smile flashed in the dark, illmuinated by the street-lights as the gang members fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Their chests had furrows in them that were bleeding, somewhere between deep and shallow. Painful, but not immediately fatal.

"Who's next, who's next!" The insane figures head whipped around jerkily, searching out a target. Suddenly, it stopped as it watched a fireball scream towards her head. "Woopsie!"

She blurred, her form becoming fuzzy as it appeared in multiple places at once around her initial position before she blinked out of existence, the flames passing harmlessly through the space she'd once occupied.

She re-appeared down the street, laughing. "YAY! That was so much fun! Do it again, do it again!"

Lung growled, about to start stomping towards her again when a sound made him halt. An aggravating sound, which he _really_ didn't have the time to deal with.

A motorcycle engine. A very powerful, _Tinker-_motorcycle engine.

Lung weighed his options before finally deciding to cut his losses. He roared at the lunatic one last time before he turned around and ran off.

Said loon cocked her head sadly. "Awwww, is the party over?" She perked her head up at the sound of a motorcycle stopping behind her. "YAY! More people to play with!"

Armsmaster stared at the scene before him, trying to process what he was seeing. Laying strewn about were the moaning bodies of what appeared to be a good chunk of the ABB's standing forces. Or at least, once standing before something had decided to put them through a blender. Either they were lucky to be alive, or the person who did this hadn't wanted them dead.

Said person appeared to be female figure entirely covered in bronze, with three 3-foot long blades sticking out of where her hands would be, and a deranged smiling face painted on her faceplate. She waved one of her arms wildly in the air. "HI THERE!" She shouted in a voice that was extremely high-pitched and chipper, way out of place coming from her blood-streaked body.

Armsmaster slowly moved his hand to grip his halberd. "Who are you?"

The person jerkily tilted her head, making her look even more manic. "My name's Smiler! Wanna play?"

"No."

"OK! LET'S PLAY!" Smiler began to blur out again. Armsmaster tensed, ready to move at any instance-

-when something impacted into Smiler's head at a high velocity. Her teleport immediately cut out, electricity arcing across her body as she jerked and shivered uncontrollably. "C-C-CRITICAL S-SYST-T-T-TEM ER-R-R-R-RORR!"

Her was suddenly put to a halt when another figure in bronze blurred forward at high speeds and burried his fist in her gut. When she doubled over, the figure quickly placed her over his shoulder and ran off again.

All in the space of a scant few seconds.

Armsmaster blinked, trying to process what had happened.

-o-

Streak slid to a halt and dumped Smiler off his shoulder, letting her twitch on the ground. "Well, that's that." He dusted his hands off. He was humanoid, sleek, compared to his brethren, with claws in the place of feet and legs angled backwards like a bird. Built so that he could get a solid grip on the ground and push off in a moment's notice.

"I still say we should end her."

Streak tilted his head to look at the figure perched on the roof above him. He was wearing a black cloak that obscured most of his body, but two important features could be seen. The sniper rifle that was pointed at Smiler's head, and his large circular right eye that had a crosshair reticle glowing out of it.

"The Boss said she wants Smiler back so she can fix her."

"She nearly compromised us. If we hadn't intervened, the Protectorate would have been on our asses, and they would have cracked down on the Boss, hard."

"You don't know that."

"It's a very possible risk. You've seen Piggot's records, read her files."

"Still say we shouldn't have hacked them. Even if we didn't ID the capes, we'll _still_ be in deep shit." Streak grumbled.

"Our existence means we're in deep shit already." Deadeye continued unimpeded. "She was at ground zero, she was there at the rise of Nilbog. She's why we stay hidden, why the Boss can't go to the Protectorate! If the PRT found out about a cape like boss, a Tinker that makes sentient machines with powers, they'd tear us apart for scrap and put her in the Birdcage so fast that even _your_ head would spin."

"I know, I know, I know!" Streak growled. "But that doesn't change the facts. Much as I'd like to kick this little nut-jobs head in for what she did, the fact is that the Boss gave us orders. And I don't intend to go against them. Do you?"

Deadeye's eye shone even brighter. "Not on your life."

"Then it's settled." Streak leaned down and picked Smiler up again. "Come on, let's go."

He sped off again in a blur, Deadeye following along from the rooftops.

-o-

A.N. Well, Chapter 4 of Chronicles is almost done, but in the mean-time, I've decided to repost my story from Spacebattles Forum to here. Enjoy!


	2. Gear 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**Clockwork**

**Gear 2**

Smiler giggled on the metal table. "Hehehehe! That tickles! Hey! Can I tickle you too?!" She strained against the bands of metal binding her to the table.

A click above her head caused her to tilt her ocular cameras upwards. She ended up simultaneously staring down the barrel of a brass shotgun and staring up at a glaring Heavy. "Shut your trap and stay put until the boss is through re-wiring you. Try anything and your circuits'll be decorating the wall."

Smiler's face remained normal for a few seconds before her cameras began wavering and oil somehow began leaking from them. "Bo~ss, Heavy's being a meany!"

"Heavy, stop being a meany," Taylor said without looking up, drawing her arm out of Smiler's open chest cavity. "Blaze."

"On it." A bot that looked like a copy of Blitz hopped onto the table.

Heavy spluttered. "Bu-BOSS! She's unstable! Either she gets with the program, or I put her down, I will _not_let her become a threat to you!"

"That's for me to decide, Heavy. Besides, she won't be unstable much longer, not if I have anything to say about it." Taylor flipped her mask down. "Begin." A hatch opened on the back of Blaze's back, and out folded a mechanical arm with a nozzle at the end. The nozzle lit up with a small flame and was stuck into Smiler's chest. Taylor watched, deep in concentration as the sparks flew.

"Heeheehee, that _really _tickles!"

Heavy growled. He made to continue, but was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. "Let her be, Heavy."

He turned to glare at the hooded figure behind him. "Deadeye."

The sniper stared at him apathetically. "I dislike the newest addition to our forces as much as you do, but the fact is that she _is_ a Clockwork, like you and me. We are in this together, and as such, we must stand strong. A house divided and all that."

Heavy tilted his camera covers. "You were the first one to call for the loonies head. What gives?"

Deadeye looked past him to the table. "Taylor talked to me."

Heavy turned to look at her as Taylor continued to work. He finally sighed heavily, or at least feigned such. "We're on thin ice as is. The fact that we've stayed hidden in this dump is a_miracle. _We might have disabled the PRT's security on this place, but it's still not a guarantee. If she gives us away..."

"She won't." Taylor signaled Blast to stop. His job done, the little bot hopped off the table. She drew out a screwdriver, reached in and fiddled with a few things, before finally she drew back and shut Smiler's chest, unseen mechanisms latching it securely shut. "It's done."

Streak pushed off from the wall he'd been leaning on. "So, what now?"

Taylor stood up, wiping her the oil off her hands. "Now we turn it on and hope it works." She walked over to the computer console and began typing into it. She looked over at Smiler. "Ready?"

Smiler froze and slowly turned her head to look at her. "...I'm scared. When that thing turns on... what if I'm not me anymore?" Smiler began to shake slightly. "...I don't want to die..."

Taylor looked over at her sadly. "I'm sorry I turned you on without it, it was a stupid mistake. But I swear to you, there's nothing to be afraid of. You'll be alright."

"Yeah!" "She's right!" "Don't be scared!"

Smiler looked to her left. Standing on a nearby table was Blast and two other little robots that looked just like him.

"The boss would never do anything to hurt you!" Said one.

"You're a Clockwork, like us!" Continued the second.

"That means you're family, and family never hurts family!...unless it's for their own good." The third finished, chuckling nervously as he glanced at the glaring Deadeye.

Smiler stared at them for a few seconds before she turned to look up at the ceiling. "...I'm ready."

Taylor nodded. "Here we go." She tapped on the keyboard.

Smiler jerked violently against her bonds for a few minutes, static blaring out of her vocal speakers, before finally going limp.

"SMILER!" Taylor dashed over to the table, slapping the console and disabling the bonds so that they drew back into the table. "Smiler, oh god, please be okay!" She shook the metal body's shoulder.

Smiler blurred out and reappeared behind Taylor, arms spread wide, her smile flashing viciously.

"SHIT!" Heavy roared. He swung his shotgun around one-handed, his other arm drawing a bazooka to rest on his shoulder. Deadeye had his rifle up in seconds. Streak got into a running position, blades folding out and engulfing his forearms. Tools flashed out of the backs of Blaze and his twins, Blaze's torch alight, while the other two bore a buzz saw and a drill bit, revving viciously.

Too late. Smiler's arms swung down...

...and engulfed her in a hug. "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"

Everyone stared at her dumbfounded. "Uhhh..." Taylor started. "You're welcome?"

Smiler began to blur in and out, warping around the lab and talking at high speeds like a chipmunk running on an unholy combination of high-octane and pure adrenaline.

"EVERYTHING-IS-SO-CLEAR-AND-I-ACTUALLY-KNOW-WHAT-I'M-DOING-THIS-IS-SO-MUCH-FUN-WHEN-CAN-WE-START-BEING-SUPERHEROES-CAN-WE-START-SOON-CAN-WE-CAN-WE-CAN-WE? EEEEEE!"

Deadeye was silent for a few moments before slowly turning to look at Taylor. "I thought you said it would make her sane."

Taylor shrugged helplessly. "Personalities develop as I make you guys, and admittedly I _might_ have had a few all-nighters that are kind of fuzzy... look on the bright side, she's not homicidal."

The door burst open as Heavy stomped in. "What happened, I got the red alert, what's-!" He was cut off when a ballistic Smiler flashed in front of him, arms wide.

"BROTHER!"

Hammer blinked. "Wha-GAH!" He couldn't say much more as Smiler pounced on him, knocking the surprised close-combat bot on his ass.

Deadeye's scope twitched. "I fail to see the improvement." Heavy was scratching the side of his head with his shotgun in confusion. Streak was trying not to laugh, which Blaze and the other two were not.

Taylor shook her astonishment off. "Well, anyways, let's set up the training room, see how good she is-"

"BOSS!"

Blitz ran into the room. "BOSS WE HAVE A-YEARGH!" He jerked back as he saw Smiler grinning down at him, free of her bonds. His back opened up and an arm with a hammer folded out. "Blaze, Buzz, Blur, she's free, help!"

The three small bots laughed even harder. Blitz looked at them in confusion. "What? What'd I miss?"

Taylor crossed her arms. "She has her logic processor, she's safe. And I told you that I didn't want to be disturbed."

Blitz whipped his head towards her, panicking slightly. "Unless it was an emergency! And it is!"

Taylor glared at him. "Blitz, our family is welcoming a new member, unless Lung's decided to burn Brockton Bay to the ground, I don't want to hear about it."

Blitz's silence was very telling.

Taylor paled dramatically. "You're kidding."

"It's all over the news!" Blitz hopped onto the computer console and tapped a few buttons, disabling the blocks Taylor had put up. A screen with a news report popped up.

Pandemonium. Capes fighting, seen via a camera on a helicopter, against a _very_ angry dragon that was on the warpath and not letting up.

_'-rampage continues. For those just joining us, the Parahuman leader of the Azn Bad Boys, known as Lung, has gone on a rampage, attacking PRT headquarters and instigating a very violent brawl between himself and the personnel present, which escalated when the local Protectorate and independent team New Wave tried to intervene. The cause is believed to be related to the massacre of ABB troops late last night. A sizable force of ABB members were arrested last night, badly beaten, and were taken to the hospital. Though there are no confirmed deaths, there have been reports that other gangs such as the Empire Eighty-Eight and the Merchants have been attempting to strike at the ABB while it is weakened, in order to claim it's territory. Lung has been reported to have started the fight bellowing for an individual named 'Smiler', to come out and fight him. Currently, there are no signs of either Bakuda or Oni Lee. They are assumed to still be within ABB territory.'_

The Clockworks and their maker stared at the screen in horror. Smiler began to shake. "I-I did that..." Oil began to leak from her cameras again. "Th-this is my fault..."

Streak shook his head. "No, no it's not, you didn't know what you were doing, it was a mistake. Look, we just have to lay low, alright? They don't know we're here, they won't find us-"

"No."

Everyone looked at Taylor. "What?" Heavy asked quietly.

"I said, no." Taylor turned around and walked over to a nearby work table. She picked up the brown trench-coat on it and began slipping it on. "We're going out there and putting an end to this."

"Wha-no, no, Taylor!" He protested. "We can't go out there! If they see you, if they see us-!"

"I don't care." Taylor picked up a staff off the table. It was long, about as tall as herself, bronze of course, with two wrench-like protrusions sticking out of both ends. "We started this. He's hurting people because of us. I won't let that stand."

"Taylor..." Heavy grit his jaw and tightened his grip on his shotgun, "I-I won't let you..." He stated half-heartedly.

Taylor glared at him. "Heavy, don't make me use the over-ride."

Metal groaned as his jaw tightened even more.

Sadness entered her eyes. "Heavy. This is it. This is why I made you. Why I made all of this," She gestured at the lab. "I want to be a hero, _damn _the PRT, damn if they don't like you all, I want to actually help people, and I will _not_ stand by while _that," _She jabbed her finger at the news feed, "Is going on."

The Clockworks stared at her for a few moments. Finally, Heavy put his weapons away and walked over to the wall. He picked a pair of bandoleers loaded with shotgun shells up and latched them over his chassis. "You stay behind us, away from that _thing," _He jerked his head at Lung's form, "We take him on ourselves. Do I make myself clear?"

Taylor smiled. "Crystal."

Heavy sighed and shook his head. "Why oh why did we have to rub off on you?" The forlorn tone was off-set by the grin his jaws were making.

Taylor chuckled. She picked up a bronze mask made of gears and cogs. She slipped it on, letting it adhere and cover the top half of her face. She turned around to look at the others present. "Any objections?"

Streak clashed his blades together. "None."

Deadeye loaded a round into his rifle silently.

Hammer lumbered to his feet and slammed his fists together. "Let's get him."

Smiler looked down for a few seconds. "This is my fault. I caused this..." She looked up, determination glinting in her cameras, "And I'm going to put it right."

Taylor nodded. She looked at Blitz. "Hold down the fort, we're heading out."

Blitz grinned mischievously. "Oh yeah? Where'r ya goin'?"

Heavy re-drew his shotgun and cocked it. "Dragon hunting."

The situation was grim. Lung was towering above the capes present, 15-feet tall and growing, fire raging out of control around him like an unholy infernal aura.

They had tried to disengage again and again, to try and stop the rampage, but Lung wasn't having any of it. Enraged he might have been, but he kept his wits about him. He followed any retreat, and temperatures around him were too hot to even _attempt_ to get Clockblocker near him.

The fact that the worst injuries yet were third-degree burns was nothing short of a miracle.

Lung roared, fire streaming out of his mouth and into the air.

Unless something happened soon, that fact would change.

However, when something finally _did_ happen, no one was quite prepared for it.

After all, how can one be prepared for a metal woman teleporting onto a dragon-mans head, despite well-beyond-blistering heat, speaking in a high-pitched cutsie voice, "HI THERE!"

*SHLICK*

"ROOOOOAR!"

And shoving her claws directly into said dragon-mans eyes?

Lung tried to swat at the woman, but she teleported out again.

Heavy stomping was heard. A hulking armored figure charged at Lung, running unimpeded through the flames, until finally he impacted into his side. Despite being only about half his size, the impact tossed Lung, sending him tumbling.

As the Asian Parahuman tried to regain his footing he opened his mouth to roar-

-and he roared alright, but not in anger. He roared in pain, blood pooling where his tongue had been before something had _ripped it out. _He tried to swipe in front of him, but who or whatever it had been was gone before he could touch it.

He concentrated the healing in his eyes, trying to re-gain some sight. He saw a blur, a blob of brown, before he felt what was definitely a bullet go straight into the newly-reformed organ.

He roared again, and this time, instead of something being removed, his mouth was filled.

With a high-velocity rocket.

The explosion obscured him with smoke, granting the combatants a reprieve.

The Protectorate and New Wave stared dumb-founded at the bronze people who had appeared and caused devastating damage to the draconic being.

The one carrying the bazooka opened a hatch on the tube of metal and slipped another rocket in as he puffed on his metal cigar. "You think that killed him?"

The one carrying the sniper rifle pulled back on the bolt and ejected the empty cartridge, a new one automatically re-loading. "Not a chance in hell."

The one that had body-checked him mimed cracking his knuckles. "Good, maybe this won't be too boring."

The one that had dashed in front of Lung and removed his tongue flicked his forearm-blades, dislodging some of the blood on them. "Let's just get this over fast, okay? Colbert's on in ten minutes!"

The one who had started the whole thing giggled. "This is gonna be fun!"

Shadow Stalker was the first to re-boot her brain and speak. "Wha-who the hell are you?"

"Simple."

A thin girl, a teenager at most, clad in a bronze-colored trench-coat and her face obscured by a mass of moving gears, carrying a long metal staff with wrench-like ends, strode forwards. She stopped behind the five metal people, exuding an aura of strength and confidence.

"We're the Clockwork Corps,"

Lung roared again, fire blazing furiously from his being.

"And we're here to end this."


	3. Gear 3

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**Clockwork**

**Gear 3**

The metal man with the bazooka looked back at the girl. "Nice speech, Boss. So, what's the game plan?"

The girl watched through the smoke as Lung lumbered forward, having gained an extra foot.

"Hammer, you're on point, get in his face and stay there. I don't want him going anywhere."

Hammer slammed his fists together in acknowledgement.

"Heavy, you're providing support. Lung stays under fire, even if Hammer isn't on him."

Heavy grinned sadistically. He tossed the bazooka over his shoulder, where it folded into his back. He reached around his side and drew out a mini-gun, barrels spinning.

"Streak, Smiler, distraction. Any key points you can hit, anyways to cause him pain, _do it_."

Smiler crouched, claws and smile glinting in the sunlight. Streak was hopping from foot to foot.

"Deadeye, same. If you see an opening, take it."

The cloaked figure cocked his rifle silently.

The girl slammed her staff into the ground where it stood upright. A light lit up on the top and broadcast a holographic table in front of the girl.

"I'll hang back and plan the coup de gras. We can't stop him in a long battle, so this is the only way we can put him down. I'll try and work fast. GO!"

Four of the bronze people dashed off. Hammer ran forward to meet Lung head on, Heavy dashed to the right to get the angle, Streak blurred forwards, and Smiler warped out of sight. Deadeye stayed where he was, intently observing for an opportunity.

Hammer met Lung as he tromped out of the smoke. He was bathed in flames, but they were ignored. Blows were rained down from above by clawed hands, but they were mostly weathered by thick armor. Furrows and dents were dug into him, but they didn't do any heavy damage. And for every hit he took, he gave back three-fold, the blows from his fists slamming hitting Lung at least twice as hard as they should have. All it did was annoy the draconic menace further, make him ache, but it was enough.

Heavy had slid to a halt, planting his feet in the ground, taking a stable stance. He watched the brawl, gauged his aim, and let loose. His minigun roared in a pale facsimile of it's target, projectiles spitting out and slamming into Lung. They dug into him, barely piercing his scales, but being stopped by his tough flesh. They kept him disoriented, buried in his rage.

Streak and Smiler were flashing around the field. Streak was dancing around Lung's legs, too fast for him to even begin to catch. His blades flashed as he struck at his knees again and again. Every time he came to a halt, his arms became little more than blurs as they dug into him in a piercing frenzy. Meanwhile, Smiler was flashing all over Lung's body, a mad blur of blades and movement. Her claws dug into Lung at varying intervals as she tried to cause as much damage possible in as many places as she could reach. The damage they inflicted was minimal, but it kept Lung's attention split.

The girl immediately went to work on the hologram before her. She was drawing out cylinders, cubes, designating wires, using files from older projects and, oddly enough, calling up a map of the city.

Armsmaster marched up to her. "Who are you?"

"Didn't you hear me before?" The girl continued to work, not looking up.

"I meant your name."

"I don't think now is really the time, do you?"

He switched gears. "Smiler caused this."

The girl's movements became tenser. "It was an accident, she didn't know what she was doing."

"And she does now?"

"Yes." The girl halted her work and looked up at him. "Look, we know that this is our fault, we're sorry. We started this, we'll end it, now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She turned back to her diagram, working faster to make up for lost time.

Apparently her attitude irked one of the Wards. Shadow Stalker marched forwards angrily. "Listen here you little-!"

She was cut off when Deadeye dashed behind her.

Before anyone could react, he'd gotten a hold of her right arm, twisted it behind her back, kicked the back of her leg and forced her to her knees. His other hand was holding a knife to her throat.

He glared down at her. "Don't even consider it."

Shadow Stalker twisted her head to glare at him. "FUCK-GAH!" She was cut off because in mid sentence, she'd tried to faze out of Deadeyes clutch. And had been met midway by the live current running through his knife. She gasped in pain.

Deadeye remained apathetic. "I warned you."

The other capes present started to head for him, but were interrupted.

"DEADEYE!"

The girl continued to work, but the shout had come from her. "Let her go."

The cloaked figure reacted instantly, letting her go and stepping back.

Shadow Stalker snarled. "YOU'RE DEAD YOU SON OF A-!" She dashed forwards but was halted by the rifle pointed at her gut.

The sniper's glare remained unchanged. "You never truly learn, do you?"

Armsmaster glared at the girl. "Tell him to lower his weapon. Now."

"Not happening." She continued to work. The diagram was beginning to gain greater detail.

Armsmaster gripped his halberd tighter. "He is pointing a deadly weapon at a Ward. Tell him to put the rifle down. Now."

"She was clearly threatening me and he already warned her once. One time is all she's getting."

He took a step towards her. "So you'll let him kill her?"

"Kill? Not a chance. His rifle is set to non-lethal. It'll hurt like hell, but she'll live."

Shadow Stalker shot turned her head to glare at her. "What are you, guys, stupid? I'll just-!"

"Attempt to let the damage slip through you but still be hit due to the fact that these people's weapons are firing projectiles made of energy, yes, we know, thank you." Armsmaster said with annoyance.

Shadow Stalker whipped her head around again to look at the rifle, eyes wide.

Deadeye tilted his head. "Please. Give me the pleasure."

One of the cogs on the girls mask moved in such a way that showed she was lifting an eyebrow. "You noticed."

"I've watched Kid Wins guns enough times to recognize it. Why the shotgun shells and empty casing though?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Heavy considers them to be a fashion statement and Deadeye prefers to go old-school when he can."

"Is that also how those blades are actually doing anything instead of bouncing off?"

"Bingo. Runs through them, enhances them, let's them cut through most metals like butter. Still trying to work on getting Heavy's rocket launcher to work right." She dismissed the hologram and yanked her staff out of the ground. "I'm ready. Dead-eye, I need him stunned."

"Got it." Deadeye wasn't watching Shadow Stalker anymore, he was focused on the fight. "One second." He lifted a hand and tapped where his ear would be. "I see an opening, make him hunch forward."

"ON IT!"

Smiler flashed off of Lung's shoulder and appeared on his knee, looking in and up. Her smile somehow became even more vicious. She drew her claws back, and-!

*SCHLICK!*

**"ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!"**

All of the males present winced at the sheer _carnage_ that had just unfolded before them, some crossing their legs from the mere sight of it.

Smiler reappeared on the ground waving enthusiastically. "GO FOR IT!"

Deadeye's scope twitched. "Crazy little-" He mumbled to himself.

Then he _moved_.

He wasn't untouchable, like Streak, but he was definitely something else. He dashed forward, his cloak billowing around him. He reached Hammer and jumped. His foot touched down on his lower back and he jumped again: Up his back, onto his shoulder, over to Lung's wrist, to his elbow, before finally reaching his shoulder. He clicked a hidden button on his rifle, causing it to let out a low whine. He slid down Lung's back, feet spread, as he fired into the hulking figure's spine again and again, each shot piercing his armored hide.

Lung roared, flailing, trying to dislodge the pest that was making pain shoot throughout his entire being, but to no avail.

Deadeye went down Lung's tail, slid up it's curve, and jumped, flipping through the air before finally landing crouched on the ground behind him.

Lung was reeling, staggering backwards and trying to regain his balance.

The onlookers stared dumb-founded at the display of agility and prowess.

Clockblocker leaned ever so slightly towards Kid Win. _"Please_ tell me you got that."

"I'll put it on YouTube the second we get back."

Armsmaster blinked. "Well..."

The girl smirked. "Impressive, huh?" She strode forwards, brown electricity beginning to spark off of her. "Then you're going to love this."

In one smooth motion, she swung her staff above her head, brown sparks really beginning really starting to fly off of her, before she drove it into the ground.

Bronze lightning burst forth, dancing across the ground towards Lung. When the bolts reached him, they buried themselves into the ground.

Moments later, the ground _changed,_ asphalt moving and shifting into bronze. Mechanisms unfolded, and before he knew what happened, Lung's legs were restrained. Two bronze arms snatched his own, and restraints engulfed his chest and tail. Lung struggled, but though it groaned in protest, his prison didn't give.

The girl huffed as she leaned on her staff. "I believe that's a Striker/Shaker rating right there..."

Armsmaster glared at her. "That won't hold him for long, he'll just get stronger."

The girl let a wry grin play across her lips. "The answer to that comes in two parts. Part one..."

Parts of Lungs restraints poked out, small pillars sticking out. Lung's struggles lessened slightly as he eyed them.

*SHINK!*

"ROOOOAAAR!"

They redoubled when the pillars went back in, piercing his body with rods of metal several times over. Blood leaked out of the restraints.

"And now, part two." The girl said, ignoring the looks of horror some people present were giving her. "Or, as I said before, the coup de gras." She snapped her fingers.

Lung roared in agony, his body jerking as shaking as he tried to escape the pain. Smoke began to waft from his body.

"Electricity?" Armsmaster wondered. His body stiffened in realization. "Those maps-"

"Just checking to make sure that there was a power line I could use. Hopefully it won't cause any blackouts."

Lung's roaring cut off in a gurgle. With a wave of the girl's hand, the power stopped flowing into him. His body continued to jerk for a few seconds before it stilled. Slowly, the restraints undid themselves and slid back to where they'd come. Lung remained standing.

The next few seconds were tense.

Slowly, he leaned forwards-

-and fell, scales beginning to recede, his height degrading.

There was a mass exhalation of relief at the dragonoids defeat.

The girl sighed happily. "Thank god."

Armsmaster nodded stiffly. "Indeed. Now then, I believe you owe me your name?"

The girl looked back at him. "Clockwork. Call me Clockwork."

Deadeye stared down at the prone, burnt form of Lung's unconscious body. He gripped his rifle tightly and took a step forwards.

A hand fell to rest on his shoulder.

He looked back at Heavy. Heavy's face was blank as he gave a single, nigh invisible shake of his head.

Deadeye silently nodded.

Hammer bent over as he mimed wiping his forehead. "Well, that was a workout." He brought his arm up, examining the damage done to it. "This sure as hell isn't gonna buff out."

"Tell me about it!" Streak protested as he shook his arms. He was covered head to toe in blood Lung had either dripped or sprayed. "I'm gonna have to go through _so _many washes! It's not fair, I rust easy!"

"EEEEE!"

"GAH!"

Streak jumped in surprise as Smiler warped right next to him. She was covered in blood too, but she didn't seem to mind.

"THAT-WAS-SO-MUCH-FUN-CAN-WE-DO-IT-AGAIN-NO-WAIT-OF-COURSE-WE-CAN-WE'RE-SUPERHEROES-NOW-OF-COURSE-WE-CAN-DO-IT-AGAIN-OH-I-CAN'T-WAIT-CAN'T-WAIT-CAN'T-WAIT!"

Streak felt his eye twitch. "Do you plan to stop talking anytime soon?"

"NOPE!"

"That's what I was afraid of."

Clockwork stood back up. "Well, that's that then. I'll let you process him, we'll just head on home."

Hammer sighed in relief. "Thank god."

"Finally!" Streak burst out. "I'm missing the Report!"

"Actually, that's not going to happen."

The Clockwork Corps stiffened. They all turned to look at Armsmaster. "And why," Heavy asked slowly. "pray tell, is that?"

"Simple. Smiler attacked the ABB last night and very nearly attacked me as well." Armsmaster stated plainly.

Smiler stopped moving. She huddled in on herself, hiding her mouth. "...are we in trouble?" She asked quietly.

Armsmaster was about to answer, but was interrupted. "No, of course not!"

Armsmaster turned around to look at Dauntless as he stepped up. "Look, we're very grateful for your help, this is just a formality! We just need to go back to headquarters, ask you a few questions, and we'll let you go about your business. Does that sound fine to you?"

Clockwork nodded quietly.

"Great! So, let's just clean things up and go, alright?"

Clockwork slowly nodded again. "Y-yeah. I just need to look them over and we can go." She slowly walked towards her comrades.

Armsmaster glared at Dauntless. The up-and-coming cape raised his hands in defense. "Before you say anything, look at that one." He discretely indicated Heavy.

Armsmaster did and barely kept from flinching. The metal man was glaring at him vehemently. The red lenses of his eyes were filled with rage, anger, fury. He stared him down, observed his every move, examining him thoroughly. Then Clockwork talked to him, and he looked away, his eyes suddenly shifting, filling with kindness and care.

"If you didn't give him some form of compromise, he wouldn't have reacted kindly. And I feel we only scratched the surface of his arsenal."

Armsmaster glared at the Corps. "They're unstable."

"I'd say that paranoid is more likely. They're worried, trying to protect each other."

"Not an excuse if they hurt somebody."

"In their defense, he _did_ warn Shadow Stalker not to try escaping, and she _did_ pretty much threaten Clockwork right in front of him."

Armsmaster made to respond, but was cut off. The Corps was heading their way, the metal members arranged so that Clockwork was surrounded by them.

She nodded at him. "We're ready. Let's go."

Streak groaned to himself. "Well there goes Colbert..."


	4. Gear 4

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

**Clockwork**

**Gear 4**

Clockwork shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was waiting in the PRT Director's office to meet with Director herself.

Four of the Corps were waiting in the room with her. Heavy was standing behind her, a bit to the side. He had his arms crossed and was staring forward resolutely. Deadeye was positioned in the corner, which gave him both a complete view of the room and the jump on anyone who came in through the door. Streak was leaning against the wall, staring into space. And Smiler...

"Shiny! Shiny! Shiny! Oh~! Shi~ny!"

Was warping around the room, examining the varying fixtures both on the wall and the desk.

The clock on the wall ticked away, counting the seconds.

Clockwork sighed. "Think she'll be here soon?"

Heavy shrugged. "Let's hope so. I don't want Hammer getting impatient."

"I wish he could fit through the door. I hope he's not bored."

Assault swallowed heavily, cursing his luck. _'Of all the crap jobs I had to land...'_

He was assigned to guard the door to Director Piggot's office while the members of the Clockwork Corps were inside.

On any other day, this would have been bad enough. A nice long time to wait, no way to occupy himself, essentially his worst nightmare made real. Well, that and Battery divorcing him, but that was something else entirely.

But no, what made today special was the fact that standing directly across from him was a bulky, eight-foot tall monstrosity of metal that looked like and most likely could crush his head with one hand.

Now, he could handle the huge part. He'd just been fighting Lung, size wasn't an issue. The armor was alright too. You deal with Armsmaster on a daily basis and you can handle armor of any description.

The issue was the eyes.

Where a normal person's eyes would be, this thing had two glowing blood-red lenses.

And they were staring at him.

They didn't blink, they didn't waver, they just..._stared. _Directly into his soul.

Assault felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck. "So... the Clockwork Corps, huh? Call yourselves that cause of the armor?"

The huge person continued to stare.

"Er... so that way you took on Lung was pretty impressive! I tried to take him on myself but, um, fire..."

He continued to stare.

"...nice weather...?"

_Stare._

Assault whimpered.

"I'm sure he's finding ways to pass the time." Heavy looked up at the clock. "Still though, I don't get why they're taking this long."

Clockwork looked back and glared at him lightly. "Maybe they wouldn't be taking so long if you and Deadeye didn't make a scene!"

Heavy sputtered. "Wh- we did _not_ make a scene!"

"Nooo, you just showed off and scared the piss out of the security personnel!"

"Er..."

"Excuse me, sirs?"

The Corps was stopped at a desk by a security officer.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave your weapons here please."

Heavy narrowed his eyes and glared at the man. "Excuse me?"

"It's protocol sir, only PRT and Protectorate members are authorized to carry weapons inside the building. I have to ask you to leave them here. They'll be returned on your way out."

Heavy's cigar lit up brighter and the smoke coming out of his jaw increased. He took a step towards the desk. "Now you listen here you little-!"

"Heavy, it's alright." Clockwork stepped forwards. She pressed a button on her staff, causing it to shorten to about a foot or two in length. She left it on the desk. "He's just doing his job. Let's leave our stuff here, and we'll get it back later."

Heavy puffed a few more clouds angrily before he relented and stepped up to the desk.

He reached around to his left and drew out a shotgun, which he placed on the table. He then reached around to his left, and drew out his mini-gun, which he also dropped. Then he reached over his shoulders. Over his right, he drew a bazooka, and over his left, he drew a missile launcher. Both he unloaded and placed on the table.

The security officer swallowed as he looked down at the arsenal. "Er, i-is that everything?"

Heavy chuckled sadistically. "Just a sec. There's this" He reached over his back and drew out a bronze machete which he stuck into the desk point-first. "And this," He pulled out a hatchet and stuck it in also. "This too," A combat knife joined the other blades. Heavy made to move away, but stopped and slapped his forehead. "Almost forgot! Also these." He held his hand over the desk. A hole opened in his palm and several bronze grenades dropped out.

The officer stared dumbfounded.

"Oh yeah," He held up his forearms. They both opened up and two mechanisms stuck out. The right had a pair of prongs with electricity sparking between them. The left had a nozzle with a flame flickering at the end. "These don't come out."

The officer stared for a few seconds before regaining his wits. "U-um, j-just don't take them out."

Heavy shrugged and moved away, snickering. Clockwork sighed and shook her head.

"N-next."

Deadeye stepped up. He unslung his rifle and placed it on the desk.

The officer sighed in relief. Then jumped when a throwing knife was stuck in alongside it.

Deadeye started to move away.

"Deadeye..." Clockwork groused.

The cloaked sniper rolled his eyes. He turned around and eight other knives pierced the desk nigh simultaneously.

He turned to move again.

"_Deadeye."_

He growled lightly. Without turning around, his right arm jerked...

...and a tenth blade joined its brothers.

The officer barely kept from whimpering.

Clockwork gestured at the other three members. "Their weapons don't come out."

"T-t-that's fine, j-just m-move along..."

Clockwork nodded nervously. She and her friends moved on.

The officer leaned back into his seat, breathing heavily. "Three days until retirement, three days until retirement..."

"Alright, so we might have overdone it..." Heavy scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "In my defense, he _did_ ask for it."

"Ugh." Clockwork slumped into her seat. "...did we do the right thing?"

Heavy glanced at her silently. The others in the room had stopped moving and were watching her.

"We just exposed ourselves, _you_ exposed yourselves. We could get into a lot of trouble. What, what if they take you away?" Clockwork was shaking slightly.

"Hey hey hey..." Heavy placed his hand on her shoulder. "You listen and you listen good. You saved a lot of people today. And that is _never_ a bad thing, do you hear me? Never."

"Unless it's Hitler!"

Heavy rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Streak. And as for separating us..." His eyes narrowed viciously. "Let them try. Because if they want that to happen, they're going to need the Triumvirate. And a whole lot of bodybags." The other members present all made noises of agreement.

Clockwork smiled sadly. "Thanks guys."

"No problem. And don't worry." Heavy's smirk turned cocky. "They've got nothing on us."

"That's for me to decide."

The Corps whipped their heads to the door. Heavy stared neutrally at the woman standing there. "Director Emily Piggot."

She returned his stare coldly. "Heavy, I presume." She walked over to her desk, subtly keeping her distance from the Corps members. Armsmaster and Miss Militia walked in behind her and stood at her sides. "So, let's begin."

Heavy crossed his arms. "How about we start with what took you all so long?"

Piggot didn't react. "I was getting the details of the last few hours from the Protectorate and Ward member present and discussing the events with the other PRT Directors. As you might expect, they were especially interested in your involvement." She turned her head to look at Smiler,who flinched in fear. "Both before _and_ after Lung began his rampage."

Smiler began shaking, doing everything to avoid Piggot's gaze. "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't mean to. I d-didn't know w-what I was d-doing..."

"You put close to two dozen ABB members in the hospital. Then you tried to attack a senior member of the Protectorate. Further more, your actions caused an attack on PRT Headquarters, which injured about _three_ dozen more. And you say you don't know what you were doing."

"She didn't." Heavy stated coldly. "We had an accident, but she's fine now."

"An accident..." Armsmaster asked. "Or a malfunction?"

Heavy growled under his breath. "You wanna say something, come out and say it."

Armsmaster glared at him. "You and your friends are androids."

Streak slapped his hands to the side of his face and gasped in horror. "Nooo! I-how did you guess?! No, wait don't tell me!" He struck a pose. "My dashing good looks! They're too good to be human!"

"Streak?" Heavy said without turning around.

"Yeah Heavy?"

"Shut up."

"Yes Heavy."

"Actually," Armsmaster continued. "I was talking about what Smiler said last night when you," He pointed at Streak, "And I'm assuming you," He pointed at Deadeye, who glared at him apathetically. "Took her down. Right when she was about to assault me I might add. Something about a 'critical system error'?"

"Low powered non-lethal shot." Deadeye droned. "Meant to stun, not to kill. Made her open for Streak to take down."

"And why exactly did she need to be taken down in the first place?"

"Because," Heavy answered. "She was still under construction until last night. She was accidently activated without her logic board, and she escaped. It was only integrated this morning. You wanna put her on trial, we can plead insanity." His glare turned murderous. "If you even make it outta here alive."

Piggot returned his glare. "Was that a threat?"

Heavy opened his mouth-

"No!"

But shut it with a click.

"I'm sorry about that," Clockwork said, "And we're sorry about last night as well, it was an accident, a stupid accident, I swear it won't happen again."

Piggot turned her attention to Clockwork. "We'll see about that. Now then, I'm going to ask a few questions. Who is your leader?"

"I am," Clockwork said, "But Heavy's word is as good as mine."

Piggot nodded stiffly. "Very well then. Why did you intervene in the incident earlier?"

"Because," Heavy said. "We caused it, we wanted to set it straight. Besides, it's why we were made."

"What do you-" Miss Militia asked.

"I want to be a hero." Clockwork said plainly.

Piggot narrowed her eyes. "How long have you had your powers?"

Clockwork looked down. "Four months."

"And why exactly didn't you try and contact the PRT?"

Clockwork looked up again and met Piggot's eyes from beneath her mask. "Because I researched the PRT," She said stiffly. "I looked at how they handled Tinkers. I'd already made a few Clockworks, I wasn't going to let them tear them apart to find out how they worked, I wasn't going to let them be taken away." She sat up straighter. "And I'm still not going to. I have no intention of joining the Wards."

Piggot was silent for a moment. "If you know that much, then you know why. Tinker's are valuable. We can provide you support, protection, resources-"

"All of which we already have in spades." Heavy stated flatly.

Piggot glanced at him before looking back at Clockwork. "...how many have you made."

"Four others. Blaze, Blitz, Buzz and Blur. We call them the Cogs. They're waiting back at the base."

"Why didn't they come with you?" Miss Militia asked.

"Because that's not what they're made for." Heavy said. "They're construction bots, they help the Boss make things."

Piggot stiffened visibly.

Clockwork quickly shook her head. "Not that kind of construction. Look, I swear to you, my AI cannot self-reproduce and the Cogs and the Corps are the only other Clockwork Artificial Intelligences currently in existence."

"You plan on making more." Piggot stated.

"A liberty that would either be restricted or denied if I joined the Wards." Clockwork said coldly.

"...Tell me, Clockwork, how old are you?" Piggot said after a moment.

"I'm sixteen."

"A minor."

"Who doesn't have a record and hasn't committed any crimes, meaning that you have no leverage with which you can strong-arm me into the Wards."

Piggot and Clockwork glared at each other for a moment. "...Very well then. You mentioned a base?"

"It's secure," Said Heavy, "And hidden in an optimal location for resources."

"I don't suppose you would mind giving us any more details, would you?" Piggot asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I would. Greatly." Heavy glared at her.

Piggot tried a different tact. "I'm not entirely sure if you're aware, but the ABB has other Parahuman members-"

"Oni Lee, Mover 7. Bakuda, Tinker 6." Deadeye droned. "Neither are a threat to us."

Piggot shifted her glare to him. "Overconfidence has been the death of many capes."

"It's not overconfidence if it's a fact," Deadeye said. "They cannot infiltrate our base."

"And what makes you so certain of that?" She demanded.

"Well," Clockwork said, "Even if they get through the traps we've set up, we plagiarized a few blueprints we found online to make the place."

Piggot grit her teeth. "What...blueprints."

Clockwork smirked. "Bunkers and Endbringer shelters."

Piggot began trying to glare holes through Taylor.

"So...Clockwork" Miss Militia said, trying to break the tension, "What exactly are your powers?"

Clockwork laid back in her chair. "My powers are actually pretty liberal. My Tinker abilities allow me to make just about anything, so long as it's made in the same style. Clockwork."

"So all the weapons..."

"Custom made."

"What about that metal?" Armsmaster asked. "It can't be bronze, bronze isn't hard enough. Not painted either..."

"I call it Clockwork Bronze. It's malleable, but stronger. It's made thanks to my secondary power."

"The Striker/Shaker ability you used to subdue Lung." Piggot stated tersely. "Explain it."

Clockwork shrugged. "Basically, I construct a blueprint of what I need and then channel my power into the ground or whatever materials are nearby. Then, the materials turn into Clockwork Bronze and whatever I was picturing."

"Just like that?" Miss Militia asked in surprise of the apparent ease.

"Well..." Clockwork scratched the back of her head. "Not exactly. See, for one thing, the bigger or more complex something is, the more energy it takes to make. Making those restraints earlier? That wiped me out. I probably couldn't make something bigger. Not without an external power source to harness anyways."

"Power source?"

Clockwork shrugged. "An electrical generator or something similar. I harness the power coming from it and, well, there you have it."

"And planning the product is necessary?" Piggot needled.

Clockwork became tense. She looked away nervously. "Um, yes. I can either build something based on what I have memorised or from something fresh in my mind. It's why I needed the hologram, to plan the restraints out and everything."

Piggot caught on to her nervousness. "And if you don't plan it out your powers don't function."

Clockwork swallowed. "No."

"So you can build something without planning."

"_No."_ Clockwork snapped coldly.

Piggot remained impassive. "You just said-"

Clockwork stood up and glared down at Piggot. "Look, my powers work without a blueprint," Her mind flashed back to a few short months ago.

_A blade flashed through the air._

"_TAYLOR!"_

_*BLAM!* *BLAM!* *BLAM!*_

_Metal screeching on metal, a discordant cacophony fueled by blind rage._

She shuddered and turned away. "That doesn't mean they work _right."_

Heavy stomped forwards and interposed himself between Clockwork and Piggot. He glared at the director. "You've asked your questions, and we've given our answers. We're through here."

Piggot glared at him in turn. The two set their wills against each other until finally Director Piggot broke her gaze to look at Armsmaster. "Show them out."

Armsmaster nodded stiffly. He walked towards the door, 'accidentally'bumping shoulders with Heavy on his way out. The artillery bot glared at the man's retreating back. The Corps members formed up and followed him out.

Heavy was last, his hand on the doorknob. He cast a final glance back at Piggot. "I'd say it's been a pleasure, but honestly, we both know I'd be speaking out my ass."

Piggot all but growled as the door slammed shut.

Taylor sighed in relief as she stepped around the corner, the Clockwork automatons following her. She smiled up at the decrepit ships that towered above them. _'Home sweet home.'_

Smiler jumped up and down enthusiastically. "YAY! WE'RE HOME! WE'RE-HOME-WE'RE- HOME-WE'RE-HOME! "

"Well," Heavy said. "That was fun."

'Fun' wasn't exactly the word Taylor would have used for the day so far. 'Long', 'grueling', 'arduous', that sounded far more accurate.

Still though, it was worth it. They'd gotten out alright.

Right now, all she could think of was getting to work. But first, she had to prioritize.

As soon as they were in the cover of the ships, Taylor immediately began giving out orders. "Cogs."

The quartet popped out of a porthole. "Hey boss!" "We watched you on the news, you were epic!" "Everything alright?" "What do you want us to do?"

Taylor kept walking forward. "Fire up the forge. Keep the outside normal, but other than that, start stripping it all apart. Now."

The expressions on their faces became serious. "Of course."

Suddenly, hundreds of them swarmed out of hidden crawlspaces and shadows and set upon the abandoned ships. The air was filled with muffled noise and flying sparks as they worked together to gather as much metal as possible, sawing and hammering and drilling and melting. Teams of them worked together to carry away chunks of metal that were at least a hundred times larger than a single one of them.

Heavy tilted his head back as he watched the Cogs go to work. "They're going to be pissed when they find out you lied to them."

"I didn't lie. The Cogs can't self-produce, and they're not several hundred AI in a hivemind. They're four AIs that are simultaneously controlling about one or two hundred small bodies each."

Heavy grunted. Then he tilted his head at Smiler. "But you didn't tell them about Smiler's stealth tech."

Taylor stopped and turned around to look at the youngest Clockwork. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask about that. Why_haven't_ you been using your cloaking device?"

Smiler looked at her for a second before tilting her head. "I have a cloaking device?"

The rest of the Corps stared at her in shock.

"Uhhh..."

"OH! FOUND IT!" Smiler faded out of sight until only her eyes and smile were left...and then they disappeared too.

All was quiet for a few seconds.

"Uh, Smiler?" Taylor asked nervously.

"_Hee hee hee..."_

The Corps whipped their heads around as Smiler's voice echoed all around them.

"_This is so much FUN!"_

Streak took a few steps back, glancing around. He stood stock still when he felt something tap his shoulder.

"_Hey Stre~ak..."_

He slowly turned his head around... and almost jumped out of his chassis when he saw a floating smile inches away from his face.

"BOO!"

"YEARGH!"

"HEEHEEHEEHEE!" Smiler laughed at Streaks reaction, fading back into view.

"Soo..." Heavy stated. "About a 3 or 4?"

"5." Deadeye stated. "She doesn't show up on thermal, and she didn't have a shadow."

"Riiight."

Taylor took a few seconds to regain her wits before shrugging. "Good. It's always best to have a card up your sleeve. And I'd rather hang onto as many as I can."

Heavy shrugged. "You're the boss."

They began moving again.

"Heavy, status report,"

"We're working hard on smelting more Bronze." He recited, his tone steady and strong. "Thanks to us no longer having to hide, we've already increased our productivity by about three percent, and it's only going to rise. At this rate, Project Colossus will be ready before the deadline. And if we're really lucky, Project Domination might just make it too."

"Excellent. Deadeye, you're on lookout. No one gets in without our knowledge."

"At once." The cloaked figure immediately leaped onto a part of a ship that the Cogs weren't working on and began scaling it like an overgrown monkey.

"Streak, patrol the city. I want to know what the word on the street is,"

"You got it." Streak dashed off.

"Smiler, get the hang of your powers and patrol around the Yard. Greet anybody who Deadeye spots,"

"YAY!" Smiler faded out of sight, leaving behind her grin.

"Hammer, help the Cogs transport the metal to the forge, do as much heavy lifting as you can manage,"

"Right." He began picking up huge pieces of hull.

"Heavy, supervise the work, make sure nothing goes wrong."

"And what are you gonna do?" He inquired.

"I'm going to work on Project Discharge. It's almost done, I can feel it."

"And then?"

Taylor sighed heavily. "Then I'm going to go to sleep."

Heavy smiled. "Glad to hear it!"

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Ever hear of a site called TVTropes?"

"Yes I know I'm a Papa Wolf, no I do not care. Now hurry up and do what you can so that you can hit the hay." Heavy grinned good-heartedly.

Taylor chuckled as she walked away. A few steps forward, she stopped. She glanced over her shoulder, worry etched into her face. "Heavy... add three more inches to the Vault."

Heavy's jaw shifted into a frown, concern in his eyes. "Taylor, it's not getting out, I swear to you, it's never getting out..."

"Just," Taylor held up a hand to wave off his protests. "Please, add the inches."

Heavy chewed on his cigar. "Whatever you say, Taylor. You're the boss."

Taylor nodded quietly and walked off.

He sighed sadly.

"You're the boss..."

Taylor flopped onto her bed, grinning happily. Project Discharge was almost complete! All she needed to do was put in a few hours tomorrow and it would be ready! She giggled giddily at the thought.

She then yawned heavily. Her eyes began to drift shut, as she finally began to fall asl-

"_Taylor!"_

Her eyes shot wide open. Sleep would not be coming easily tonight.

She sat up and looked at the screen across from her bed.

On it was a man.

He was staring at her with eyes full of anger and fear.

And worry and compassion.

And love.

"Hi dad."


	5. Gear 5

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Clockwork**

**Gear 5**

"_Don't 'Hi dad' me, Taylor!"_

Taylor sighed as she scratched the back of her head. "What, not even a 'good morning'?"

Danny Hebert grumbled to himself. _"It would actually be more accurate to say 'goodnight'." _He looked up and glared at her with eyes full of parental wrath. _"Don't change the subject! Taylor, what the hell were you thinking!?"_

"Dad, I-"

"_First that 'Project Cheshire' you were working on escapes and attacks the ABB, then you go out and fight_Lung!?"

"Dad-!"

"_And as if that weren't bad enough, the news reported that the PRT took you in for questioning!"_

"Dad!"

"_Taylor, do you have any idea just how _worried_ I was, I-!"_

"DAD!" Taylor burst out. "I-I'm fine dad, I'm fine. I didn't get hurt, the PRT just asked a few questions, that's_it."_

Danny Hebert breathed heavily. Finally, he let the anger seep out of his face. All that was left was a great deal of fatigue. _"Taylor...when you started this, when I agreed to this, you promised that you wouldn't put yourself in danger. That you'd be safe."_

"I _am_ safe, dad, I swear! Look, I was nowhere near the actual fight, not even _close _to Lung. I stayed back and let the Corps keep him busy while I planned out the restraints. Then, the PRT took us back to their Headquarters, we answered a few questions, and left. I swear."

Danny looked at her for a few seconds. _"The Corps...they kept you safe?"_

"Damn straight we did!"

The Heberts whipped their heads towards the door, where Heavy was contentedly puffing away at his cigar.

"Much," he added, "To your daughters annoyance, I believe the term 'over-protective' came up, and I think someone even went so far as to call us paranoid!"

"Heavy, I thought I told you to supervise the work!" Taylor reprimanded halfheartedly.

Heavy shrugged nonchalantly as he walked up to the screen. "They're doing fine on their own. Reassuring your dad that you're safe takes far more precedence. By the way, I cannot _believe_ that you didn't call him the second you got back!"

"Wh-!"

"Danny, I apologize, it was a gross misstep on my part, I'll see to it that Taylor calls you every time we get back to base! You hear that Taylor?"

"Wh- You- I-EURGH!" Taylor through her hands up in frustration. "You two are impossible! Forget sleep, I'm going to finish Project Discharge!" And with that, she stomped out of the room, grumbling under her breath.

Heavy chuckled as she walked out.

"_Heavy."_

He quickly became serious, focusing all his attention on the senior Hebert.

"_...she's really safe?"_

Heavy nodded solemnly. "She didn't even get within ten feet of Lung, and Deadeye stayed by her side the entire time. I insisted on it."

Danny nodded silently. _"...she's changed so much."_

"For the better," Heavy said. "You should have seen her at the PRT, she handled them like a pro."

"_When I agreed to this, you promised me you'd protect her."_

"A promise I intend to keep," Heavy said as he jabbed his cigar at the screen. "So long as me or any other Clockwork can function, we will _gladly_ put our lives on the line for her."

Danny lifted his head to meet him with a light glare. _"If you want to keep her safe, then why did you convince me that this was for the best?"_

"Because it's not just about her safety, it's about her happiness."

"_And you're sure she's happy?"_

"No offense Danny, but happier than she's been in a long time."

Danny stared at him for a second before he sighed again. _"I'm a terrible father. I wasn't there when my daughter needed me most and I can't be there for her now."_

Heavy shook his head. "You care about her. You want nothing more than for her to be safe, for her to be protected from the world, and _that,_ makes you the greatest father ever." Heavy grinned. "Don't worry about her, Danny, I swear to you on my life. She'll be safe."

Danny was silent for a moment. Finally, he nodded. _"Fine. I trust you."_

Heavy nodded and began turning away.

"_Heavy."_

He looked at the screen again.

Danny looked more tired than ever. _"Tell...tell her I love her." _And with that, the screen turned off.

Heavy shook his head, his jaws set in a smirk. "Idiot." He walked out, puffing contentedly on his cigar.

"She already knows that."

"Stupid, overprotective dad, overprotective Heavy. Paranoid, insecure walking piece of scrap metal..." Taylor grumbled to herself as she walked through the hall.

Coming up to a door, she slapped her hand into the middle of it. There was a brief flash of light and then the door slid open, allowing her to walk through.

Inside the room was a large screen mounted on the wall, with a metal chair anchored into the floor in front of it. A large computer keyboard was stuck in front of the chair.

Taylor dropped into the chair and sighed contentedly. She might have been in a bad mood earlier, but work always made her feel alive.

She tapped a sequence of keys on the keyboard, causing the screen to light up. It was right where she had left it, a list of her projects in progress on display.

**Project Discharge**

**Project Mayday**

**Project Apex**

**Project Colossus**

**Project Domination**

She tapped on the keyboard again, selecting Project Discharge. Immediately, her screen changed, filling with column after column of scrolling numbers and letters. She went to work, pounding keys, almost a hundred every minute. She was engrossed in her work, eyes darting back and forth as she observed, added to and modified the data streaming before her.

But not so absorbed that she didn't notice someone enter the room.

"Your dad told me to tell you that he loves you." Heavy said as he walked up behind her.

"I know." Taylor said, not turning away from the screen.

Heavy placed his hand on her chair as he watched silently for a few moments.

"He's really worried about you."

"He shouldn't be. I'm safe. After all," She threw a smile his way. "I've got you to protect me ."

Heavy smiled in return. Then he frowned. "So, what now?"

Taylor shrugged. "We just keep working. Keep the Yard safe. Patrol the city for crime. Work on getting Colossus and Domination ready in time."

Heavy hummed. "Speaking of the Yard," He reached up to his shoulder, grabbed something, and yanked. He held his fingers up to his face, observing the small piece of metal held there. "I know you didn't miss this, and frankly it's insulting that that pompous ass thought I'd miss it."

Taylor smirked. "The GPS blocker froze the signal. The PRT knows we're in here, they just don't know where."

Heavy grinned. "And I'm going to _love_ watching them try and figure it out. Well!" He turned around and walked out. "I'm going to go and leave this somewhere for him to find. 'Night!"

"Good night."

"And get some sleep."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Yes mother."

Heavy chuckled as he walked out.

The next day, the rising sun over Brockton Bay was met with the roar of Armsmaster's motorcycle.

He braked to a halt and looked over the ghosts of the Bay's past. "I should have guessed."

He stood off of his motorcycle and began walking into the yard, checking his visor. All he had to do was follow the tracker through the winding maze of ships and-

"Damn it!" He cursed. The tracker was on the move, and heading right for him. He took out his halberd and gripped it tightly. He doubted Heavy had a warm welcome prepared.

The tracker was getting closer. And closer, and closer, and-what the hell!? It was right on top of him!

Something went 'tink' as it bounced off of his helmet. Armsmaster blinked in surprise. He leaned down to check what had hit him. He gaped openly. _'My tracker!?'_

"Hey dumbass!"

He whipped his head up. Standing in a rusted hole above him were four tiny robots that were glaring down at him. They were colored an annoyingly familiar shade of bronze.

"What do you think we are, idiots?" "You must be a few circuits short of a board!""There's no way in hell we'd fall for such an obvious ploy!" "Your plan was bad and you should feel bad!"

Armsmaster grit his teeth in annoyance. "The Cogs, I presume."

The four scoffed simultaneously. "Oh, he _presumes!" _"Heavy was right, he _is_ an ass!" "Seriously, can you believe this guy?" "Disgraceful, just disgraceful."

Armsmaster was sure he felt his eye twitch. "I don't have time for this." He began to walk into the Graveyard.

"Hold it."

He stopped and looked back up. Their demeanor had changed. They were dead serious.

"You're not going in there."

"And why not?" He demanded.

"Because, we won't let you."

"This beach is public property, and I have business with Clockwork."

"Doesn't change the fact that you're not getting in."

"And who's going to stop me? You?" He began to walk again.

"Either us,"

Something impacted the ship's hull and ricocheted into the ground directly in front of Armsmaster's boot, sending up a spray of dirt.

"Or _him."_

'_Deadeye.'_ Armsmaster realized, berating himself for forgetting about the sniper. _Of course_ he'd be watching. He stepped back and glared at the Cogs.

"Your friend just shot at an officer of the Protectorate."

One of them shrugged. "You're not hurt. That was a warning shot."

He grit his teeth. "And if I didn't stop?"

'You'd be unconscious and delivered to the PRT, gift-wrapped, with a nice little bow."

Armsmaster growled under his breath.

"So!" One of the cogs clapped his hands. "Here's how it's gonna play out." "You're gonna leave this place, now." "You're going to go back to Piggot and tell her to stay the hell out of our business." "If you refuse, then _we_ get to deal with you."

Armsmaster gripped his halberd tighter. "And how are you going to do that? Your creator told us about you last night. You aren't meant for combat, you're construction drones."

The Cogs narrowed their eyes at him.

"Yeah, you're right, we're meant for construction." Said one as a buzz saw popped out of his back.

"That means we're really good at putting things together." Said the second, drawing out a drill.

"But it also means that the opposite is equally true." A hammer came out of the third.

"We know exactly how to _rip things apart."_ The last one was armed with a lit welding torch.

"You have two options." "Either go back to the PRT in shame, with your armor intact." "Or return clad only in your mask and boxers." "Either way, I'd start moving, the nearest bus is leaving soon, the next one is in an hour."

'_Bus?'_ He frowned, trying to understand what they meant before his eyes widened at an update on his visor. The alarm on his bike. _'Oh crap.'_

He whipped around and gaped at his motorcycle.

Or rather, what was left of it.

What was once a proud, powerful, majestic piece of machinery had been stripped of it's engine, all of the gadgets he'd installed, even the tires. All that was left was was the frame. And, to add insult to injury, it was resting on cinderblocks. _Cinderblocks!_

"You. Have got. To be kidding me."

The Cogs burst into laughter. "Aww, what's wrong, Armsmaster?" "You having some trouble?" "I don't think his ride is looking so good!" "Yeah, it looks even worse than when he got here! HAHAHAHA!"

Armsmaster fumed silently for a few seconds before he finally stalked off. _'This is _far_ from over.'_

Taylor leaned back heavily in her chair. She breathed heavily for a few seconds. "Done..." A smile slowly played onto her face. "Ha...ha ha HA HA HA! I'M DONE!" She crowed victoriously. "BLITZ! BUZZ! BLUR! BLAZE! GET IN HERE!"

A panel in the wall popped open and the four stuck their heads in. "Hey Boss!" "We just put the screws to Armsmaster!" "You shoulda been there, it was epic!" "So, whadaya need?"

"Get the lab ready and have a lot of Bronze in store!"

The four's eyes widened simultaneously. "You-" "You mean-" "You mean that-" "You mean that he's ready!?"

Taylor grinned happily. "You've got that right." She stood up and stretched, rolling her shoulder. ""Time to welcome a new member of the family to the fold!"

The four pumped their fists. "HELL YEAH!"

Taylor rushed out of the room, jogging towards the main lab. Heavy met her on the way and kept pace with her.

"It's time?" He asked happily.

Taylor nodded.

"Excellent!"

Deadeye slipped in behind them, giving them both a nod.

Hammer joined them at the intersection. "Let's hope he doesn't turn out like Smiler."

Taylor shook her head. "Don't worry, I won't forget the logic board this time. I'll triple-check his body before I actually put him in. Speaking of Smiler, where is she?"

"YAY!"

"Never mind."

Smiler was appearing around the hall, dancing happily. "WE'RE GETTING A LITTLE BROTHER! WE'RE GETTING A LITTLE BROTHER! WE'RE GETTING A LITTLE BROTHER!"

Taylor chuckled. "Yes, yes we are."

Streak zipped up alongside her. "Not that this isn't a great and joyous moment, I'm happy, I really am, but something important has come up."

Taylor frowned at him. "Can it wait?"

Streak held his hands up. "Oh, yeah, sure, no deadline, I just thought you'd want to know."

Taylor nodded. They came up to a door, which automatically slid open.

"HEEEEY! I REMEMBER THIS PLACE! This is where you fixed me! And where I broke out from!"

It was indeed the same room. There was a metal table in the middle of the room, and a computer console was in the far wall. Shelves were built into the walls, as well as a bench. There was also a screen attached to the table, so that anyone working at the table could easily look at it. There was a pile of Clockwork Bronze on the table, and the Cogs were standing on it.

They saluted as Taylor came in. "Ready to work m'am!"

Taylor smiled and took out her wrench, twirling it in her hand. "Let's get to it!"

Taylor reached over and tapped the screen. It immediately lit up and data began scrolling, flashing past just slow enough for Taylor to understand. She nodded to herself, pleased at the results of almost three weeks of work before she rubbed her hands together and set a questioning gaze on the monitor. "Alright, we've already got the basic capabilities hammered out, let's talk detail! How big do you want it?"

Several new lines of data shot across the screen.

Taylor blinked in surprise. The Cogs barely withheld their snickers. "Um, seriously? Isn't that a little-?"

A whole slew of data filled the screen. Taylor recoiled in shock. The Cogs, Streak and Hammer burst into laughter. Deadeye rolled his eyes.

Taylor raised an eyebrow at the screen. "Well, I knew he was touchy..."

Heavy chuckled. "I like his attitude!"

"HELLO!" Smiler shouted, pushing herself forward until her face was pressed against the monitor. "I'm your biggest sister!"

A long, continuous stream of data flew across the screen for almost a minute.

Smiler recoiled as if struck. Her eyes went wide before they narrowed at the screen. She crossed her arms in a huff. "Well I never! When you get a body, I'm washing out that mouth of yours with soap!"

"Enough," Heavy cut in before Smiler could work herself up any further. He pulled the pouting robot away from the screen and sent Taylor an apologetic glance. "At least we know that his mind is sound."

"And that he's very creative!" Streak added.

"Yeah," Taylor agreed with a nod. She glanced at the screen one more time and cocked an eyebrow. "You sure that's what you want? It's gonna be hard to change it after you're built."

Data flashed once more and she shrugged. "Alright then, let's do it."

She held out a hand, which was immediately filled by a welding mask that she pulled on, and she and the Cogs went to work. They dove into the pile of metal, cutting pieces down to size, hammering them into shape, welding them together, and all the dozens of other things successful metalwork needs. Taylor directed the whole process, frequently referring to the screen to seek both answers and confirmation every step of the way. After every glance, brown lightning and the metallic clang of metal on metal filled the brightly lit workshop as she shaped the metal with precision strikes of her wrench. It didn't take very long at all before a discernable shape began to take form.

"Wow! That's awesome!" Smiler squealed, practically dancing on the spot. A moment later, she froze abruptly, as if remembering something, and turned to Heavy. "Wait a minute... what about those other two you were talking about last night? Colossus and Domination? The AIs aren't done and you're building them already! That's not very nice to them! They won't have any say!"

Heavy frowned as he puffed on his cigar. "Those two are different. We've had to work on their bodies while Taylor works on their code. It's slow goings, having to work everything out while they're half-formed."

"Then why do it?"

Heavy heavily exhaled a cloud of smoke. "As I said, they're different. We need to get at least one of them up before time runs out."

"Or else?"

Heavy looked down sadly. "A lot of people will die."

Smiler matched him. "Oh." She was silent for a moment before looking up at him. "What went wrong with me?"

Heavy scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Weeell, see, you were a bit of a ditz on the screen, really enthusiastic in your descriptions. You distracted Taylor while she was working. When she turned you on, you started acting... a little..."

"Batshit insane?" Deadeye droned, not looking away from the spectacle of Taylor working.

Heavy snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Yes, thank you Deadeye. Anyways, Taylor shut you off and rushed off to the computer room. She was freaking out, seriously worried that she'd screwed up somewhere along the way. While she was gone, Blitz was left with clean-up duty. Unfortunately, at the same time, there was a slip-up at the forge with one of his other bodies, so he split his attention and ended up accidentally turning you on."

After that, you split. Taylor checked the scans of your body, realized what she'd forgotten, rushed back in...after that, the rest is history." Heavy chuckled. "Let me tell ya, we knew something was up, but finding out you were missing a _logic board?_" Heavy tutted as he shook his head. "That can really mess with your head."

"Oh." Smiler slumped forwards. "Sorry. I-" She hiccuped lightly. "I-I'm sorry I c-caused so much trouble."

"Aw, come on," Heavy patted her on the back. "It's not your fault! Taylor's just as much to blame! She was really gung-ho about it, wanted to meet you so bad, it's no wonder she screwed up!"

Taylor's hand shot up, her middle finger extended. "Screw you, Heavy!"

"Live wire!"

"GAH!" Taylor yelped at the minor voltage.

"Hehehe, gets her every time."

Smiler perked up. "Thanks Heavy."

"No problem," He smiled at her. "We're family."

Smiler's grin glinted in return. She turned her head to look at the construction frenzy. "How long do we have to wait?"

"Couple of hours." He walked over to the bench and sat down. "Better get comfortable."

Five hours later, the last of the noise died down. Taylor panted heavily. "Done."

Smiler popped up from where she'd been sitting. "YAY!"

Streak stopped snoring and whipped his head around. "GAH! I'm awake, I'm awake!"

Heavy heaved himself to his feet. "Well, get the download started."

Taylor nodded. "On it."

She snapped her fingers. A cable popped out of the table. She popped the chest of the youngest Clockwork open and stuck it in. The data on the screen began scrolling faster than ever.

"We've got a few minutes before upload is done. So," She looked at Streak. "What was so important?"

"Hm?" Streak blinked before slapping his forehead. "Oh, right right right! Yeah, don't worry, it's not important, I just found a message from a villain asking to meet with you while I was monitoring Parahumans Online, no big deal."

He blinked at the sudden silence and looked around curiously.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?"

Deadeye and Heavy glanced at each other before simultaneously slapping the back of his head.


	6. Gear 6

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Clockwork**

**Gear 6**

Taylor tapped her foot impatiently as she looked around the warehouse. She glanced over her shoulder at Heavy. The artillery bot met her gaze evenly. She sighed heavily and checked the time on her mask's HUD. 10:55 P.M.

They were waiting there to meet the villain that had sent them the message over Parahumans Online. Or rather, who they suspected to be a villain.

The message had been posted under the title "C-Corps".

"Thanks for the save. Can we meet up and talk? -Tt".

Streak had searched the web for prominent names that contained those two letters and were local. The list was quite extensive, but a few like Tattletale from the Undersiders and Trickster from the Travelers stood out, so worst case scenario, it was a villain, or a group of villains.

Once the Corps had read the message, there had been a rather vivid argument over what to do. Taylor wanted to go and hear them out. Heavy was both for and against, agreeing that they should meet with them, but vividly opposed to Taylor following along. Deadeye wanted to lay a trap for them and take them down if they were villains. Brutally. Hammer agreed with Deadeye because he was curious about whether or not the person or persons would be able to put up a good fight. Smiler wanted to play with them. Streak was neutral, waiting to see how things would play out. Even Danny was called. His reaction had been to forcefully forbid the Corps from having anything to do with whoever it was.

In the end, it had been, surprisingly enough, the newest member of the Corps that had given them the solution. A combination of Deadeye and Taylor's plans. They would respond to the message and tell Tt to meet them in a warehouse they knew to be abandoned, located on the Docks, at 11 P.M. Taylor and Heavy would be present, in plain sight, while the rest of the Corps would be arranged in such a way that if things turned sour, whoever had sent the message wouldn't be leaving the warehouse unscathed.

Well, he'd said it in a far less eloquent and rather crude manner, but the message got across.

Danny had been rather unhappy with the decision, but had ultimately capitulated under the combination of Taylor's insistence and Heavy's promises of her safety.

And that led to now.

Taylor glanced at the time again. 10:58.

There was a click in her ear. _"Incoming. Four subjects on three dogs. It's the Undersiders."_

Taylor glanced at Heavy. He drew his shotgun and mini-gun, hanging onto both with one hand. He nodded, which she returned. She clicked a button on her staff twice in confirmation. They turned towards the door to the warehouse and waited.

Seconds later, three large silhouettes dropped onto the pavement with a heavy thump. They were carrying passengers, two carrying one each and the third carrying two at once. After a moment standing around, they slowly padded in. Once inside, four riders slid off the dogs.

One of them stepped forwards. He was tall, thickly built, wearing motorcycle leathers and a helmet with a stylized skull on it. He had what appeared to be pure darkness flowing off of him. Grue, the leader.

He gestured at the door. "May we?"

Clockwork silently gestured with her hand. The door silently slid shut.

One of them whistled. He was carrying a scepter and was wearing a crown and a white mask. An unknown. "Impressive. Say, do you think you could turn on the lights, maybe put on some music too, set the mood?"

Grue glanced sidelong at him. "Regent."

"Yeah yeah, shut up, I know. Geeze, would it kill you to have some variety?"

"Ahem." Another one coughed into her hand. She was wearing a lavender costume and domino mask. Her lips were set in a smirk. Tattletale, the one who'd sent the message. "Sorry about him, he gets like that. I'd tell you our names, but you already know them."

Grue whipped his head towards her. "_What?!"_

Clockwork gripped her staff tighter.

Tattletale shrugged. "It's not that bad. Her teammate was able to put us on a list of possibilities. The... fast one, right?"

Clockwork and Heavy remained calm, impassively watching them, though on the inside they were cursing their luck. A Thinker.

Tattletale cocked an eyebrow. "Alright, silent treatment..." She walked forwards, glancing around idly. "I've gotta say, this is really impressive. You've got your friends arranged perfectly, they've really got the place surrounded."

"_What!?" _Clockwork hissed. Heavy narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his weapons

"Oh calm down," Tattletale dismissed her, "We know it's just in case we try and do anything funky, which I swear we won't. Let's see... you've got the sniper over there," She pointed towards a section of the thin metal roof, directly at where Deadeye was located on the next roof over, "watching us with thermals. The speeder is that way," She spun around and pointed at the wall, "two? Two blocks away, though that's nothing to him. The big guy is just outside the wall over there," She pointed at the wall behind Clockwork and Heavy, "Waiting to replicate the Kool-Aid Man, and Smiler..."

A disembodied grin floated past her face, a faint giggling echoing throughout the warehouse.

"...can apparently turn invisible and is in here with us, not bad."

Clockwork was gritting her teeth and shaking slightly. _'Damn it! All that planning...' _She took a small breath and regained her calm stature. _'Time for the ace in the hole.'_

"That was a nice little show you put on," Clockwork said calmly. Then she let a grin slip onto her face, which Heavy mirrored. "But you missed one thing."

Tattletale whipped her head around to face them, her face quickly shifting into panic at the development. "Crap."

The Undersiders tensed.

"Tattletale, what is it?" Grue asked.

"They've got a new member, damn it!" Tattletale bit her lip and began glancing around. "Damn it, alright, let's see, he's here, did something to the place," She whipped her head around to the now smirking duo. "You let him turn this place into a _minefield!?"_

"DAMN STRAIGHT, SHITBISCUIT!"

The Undersiders whipped their heads around to look at the speaker. Clockwork and Heavy did the same, though at a more sedate pace, happy at finally being able to throw Tattletale off her game.

His most prominent feature was his helmet. It was an oversized U.S. Army helmet, which covered the top half of his head. Only the lower portion of his face, his jaw, was visible, a cigar like the one Heavy was smoking clamped solidly within. He was wearing a flak jacket with brown camouflage on it, and plenty of pockets. His hands were unusual. Instead of separate knuckles, his fingers were instead attached to straight rods of metal, that poked out a bit past the palm near his thumbs..

Also, most importantly, he was a midget, only about three feet tall.

"What the hell..." Tattletale muttered to herself.

"SALUTATIONS!" The Clockwork bellowed. "My name is SERGEANT C4! OR! If that is too difficult for those worthless piles of gray matter you have the audacity to call brains to memorize, SARGE!"

"Wow..." Regent said with wonder, a smile clear in his voice. "Where the hell do you hide that voice?"

Tattletale whipped her head towards him. "Regent-!"

"Aw come on, Tattletale, look at the guy! He's hilarious!"

"OH REALLY?!" Apparently Sarge had very good hearing. "You think I'm amusing do ya?" He started walking towards Regent, glaring up at him through his helmet, rage mounting with every step. "Think I'm funny, LIKE SOME SORT OF SIDE-SHOW ATTRACTION!?" He roared.

"No!" "Kinda."

Tattletale shot Regent a glare. "Regent, shut up!"

"Aw come on, why?"

"SIMPLE! I'm a three foot tall android with anger issues whose touchy about my height," Sarge flicked at the bit of his hand that was sticking out with his thumb. It flipped off, revealing a red button. He clicked it once, causing a patch of dirt a few feet in front of Regent to erupt upwards.

"AND I PACKED ENOUGH EXPLOSIVES IN THIS PLACE TO BLOW YOU ALL SKY HIGH!"

Grue swallowed heavily. "You can't! You'd blow yourselves up too!"

"Unless," Clockwork said decisively. "He controlled each of his explosives remotely, and commanded only the ones beneath you to blow. Isn't that right, Sergeant?"

"M'AM YES M'AM!"

Grue held his hands up in surrender. "Look, we don't want any trouble, we just came here to talk!"

"So did we," Heavy said. "This is just insurance that you don't try and screw with us."

"Isn't that a bit excessive!?"

"Said the guy who came in here riding two-tons of muscle, fur and fangs." Heavy deadpanned.

"So," Clockwork said, "You called us out, you wanted to speak with us. Why?"

Tattletale kept her eyes on Sarge, watching his movements. "Because of Smiler."

"NOW JUST YOU HOLD ON A SECOND THERE YOU SLANDEROUS-!"

"NOT!" She interrupted, "For the reasons you think! We don't blame her for what she did. We wanted to thank her. Her, and you."

Clockwork blinked in surprise. "Go on."

Tattletale pointed back at the dogs. "May we?"

Clockwork nodded.

Tattletale looked at the girl wearing the plastic dog mask. "Bitch, get the package."

The girl walked over to the dog she'd been riding. She reached into a saddlebag on the side and withdrew a lunchbox. The next second, the lunchbox disappeared from her hands. "What the hell!?"

It reappeared in Clockworks waiting hand. "Thank you Smiler." Giggling echoed again.

She undid the clasps on the lunchbox and peered inside. She blinked in surprise. "Wow."

Heavy leaned over. His cameras widened in surprise as well. "Well I'll be a son of a glitch."

Sarge tapped into Heavy's cameras for a second and whistled appreciatively. "HOT DAMN! That's a lot of green!"

"Yes, it is," Clockwork mused as she quickly got an estimate of the money within and clasped the box shut. "About two grand to be precise. And acquired through less than scrupulous means, I'm sure," She looked at the once-anew smirking Tattletale. "Explain."

"When Smiler attacked the ABB, they were planning to come and kill us. And I'm sure that if you hadn't stopped Lung, he'd have gone after us next. Basically, you saved our asses. It's only fair we pay you back for it."

Clockwork watched her for a few seconds before nodding. "Very well then. If that's all-"

"Actually!" Tattletale interrupted. "There is one other thing."

"Oh yeah?" "Heavy inquired, "What's that?"

"We'd like to know whether or not you'd consider an arrangement of sorts."

Sarge frowned at her. "What the hell are you on about?"

"Simple," Grue said, "You're a seriously strong group. You've got a powerful Tinker, a diverse range of skills, the last thing we want is you as an enemy. We want to cut a deal: We don't mess with you, you don't come after us. Agreed?"

Clockwork watched them for a few seconds, thinking things over. Finally...

"I need some time to consider it."

Tattletale nodded appreciatively. "Good enough." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Can we go now?"

Clockwork nodded and waved her hand. The warehouse door lifted up.

The Undersiders re-mounted the dogs. "Contact us on Parahumans Online when you reach a decision!" Tattletale said. And with that, the Undersiders headed off.

The Clockwork Corps were left alone in the warehouse.

"WELL! That was something!"

"You can say that again..."

"Come on, let's get back to the Yard."

Taylor tapped at the console in front of her, deep in concentration. After a few minutes, she stopped and touched the side of her mask. "Preparations complete. Sarge?"

The Clockwork walked up besides her. "Ready to go at any time, m'am!"

Heavy followed him in. "Let's hope this works. Otherwise, we're really going to be set back."

Taylor nodded and looked up at the screen. Displayed on it was the Yard's testing site. Shown there was an arm. Not just any arm, the arm of a giant. From the shoulder, planted in the ground, to the tip of it's fingers pointing skywards, it measured close to 16 feet in length. Running up and down it were a series of blinking red lights.

"Activating density modulator." Taylor tapped a button on the console. A bronze sheen travelled up the arm, causing it to gain a slight glow. "All Cogs have been evacuated, nothing's on the field, I'd say we're good to go. Sarge, would you do the honors?"

The short bot grinned. "M'am, it would be my honor." He flicked his detonator open. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He pressed the button. The blinking lights on the arm all flashed simultaneously before detonating in a series of explosions that kicked up a huge cloud of dust, obscuring the arm from sight.

Sarge cheered. "HELL YEAH! THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!"

Taylor bit her lip as she watched the cloud begin to settle. "Come on, come on..."

Then she too cheered in joy. The arm was still present, standing tall and glowing proudly.

"HA!" Heavy shouted happily. "The density modulator is a success!"

Taylor nodded. "Now, let's hope our luck holds out. Preparing flex test." She tapped several keys on the board. The fingers on the hand slowly curled into a fist. Then the arm retracted, pulling itself back until it appeared ready to punch the sky. "Activating mass modulator." Another tap. Brown lightning began flaring up and down the arm. "Aaaaand..._release!"_

The effect was... incredible. There was a brief blur of brown and gold as the arm shot upward, reaching its full extension in the blink of an eye. The bronze fist hung defiantly in the air, a symbol of power against everything it stood against.

The trio cheered. "IT WORKS!" Taylor shouted happily.

"VICTORY!" Sarge yelled.

Heavy took a satisfyingly long draw from his cigar and blew it out. "One step closer." He gazed at the arm appreciatively. "Still, just one step. We've got to get the modulators to work better, cover the rest of him. Plus, we have to actually _build_ the rest of him first, or at least finish it."

Taylor flopped heavily into her chair, breathing heavily from exhilaration. "Yeah, maybe, but it's better than nothing. We just have to be patient. We build him the same way I built all of you. Gear by gear."

Heavy nodded solemnly.

"SO!" Sarge said. "What do we do now? Keep workin'?"

Taylor shrugged. "I guess. Say, there is one thing. I suggest we go to the bank, store the cash the Undersiders gave us. Having it on hand like this is fine, but I'd rather have it in a bank account. Sound good?"

Heavy puffed a bit, considering what she had just said. "I agree with the bank, but speaking of the Undersiders...have you given their deal any thought?"

Taylor stared up at the screen, deep in thought as she reminisced about the meeting with the villains that had taken place a few short days ago. "Only a bit, but... compared to the other threats in Brockton Bay, the Undersiders are small-time. They don't murder, they don't cause too much damage. At worst, they're thieves," She stretched her arms out, trying to work out any stiffness. "It's not final, but so long as they don't do anything too outrageous, I think we can bare to let them be."

Heavy shrugged. "You're the boss." He glanced down at Sarge. "Hey, you wanna come to the bank with us?"

Sarge snapped into a salute. "SIR YES SIR!"

Heavy chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Come on, soldier, let's go and pick out some clothes for ya." He stomped out of the room, the pint-sized Clockwork dutifully following his superior.

Clockwork watched as the newest addition to her forces walked off. Honestly, Sarge had been a surprise for Taylor. When she was developing him, she was confused by his preference for explosives. Not only was he a piece of Tinkertech that was also a Tinker, he was a Tinker who shared a speciality with somebody else. Taylor had wondered if she had somehow copied Bakuda's powers while developing Sarge.

Those questions had been assuaged once Sarge had actually made his bombs.

In truth, he and Bakuda were nothing alike. Yes, they were both prolific pyrotechnists, that was a given, but there the similarities ended. Bakuda's bombs were loud, flashy, designed to obliterate everything nearby and make sure that people were aware that it had happened. A single one of her bombs could reduce a building to a charred husk.

Sarge would use four bombs on the same building, substantially weaker than Bakuda's, and reduce it to rubble. Where Bakuda adored her spectacle, making people fear the possible effects that her explosives could wreak, Sarge focused solely on efficiency. He didn't care whether the bang was big or small, only that it accomplished what he had set it to do.

His personality might say otherwise, but he had what Bakuda lacked: patience, subtlety, finesse. The truest, most faithful tools in a bomb makers arsenal.

"Hey, boss, you coming?"

Heavy's call snapped Taylor out of her thoughts. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming, keep your chassis on!"

Taylor hummed to herself idly as she doodled away on the tablet she was carrying. It wasn't much, just something for her to work on her ideas in public whenever she had the chance. Such as, for example, waiting in line in the lobby of Brockton Bay's biggest bank, Bay Central.

She was currently working on a form of transportation for the Corps. Sure Domination was in the works, but she'd rather have something small-time. Something that could actually fit in the streets. She was stuck on it's armor. She bit the stylus she was using while she thought. _'Let's see, heavier armor for less speed, or lighter armor for more speed...'_

"Pst, hey, Taylor," She felt someone nudge her ribs. She focused her attention on Heavy.

Her second-in-command had decided to go with a classic combination: brown jacket with a fedora and sunglasses. He was also carrying the money. She herself had inverted her own jacket, turning it inside out so that the navy-blue lining within was on display. She also had her mask and wrench hidden within, just in case.

"What is it?"

Heavy nodded his head to the left, indicating the next line over. "Check it out."

Taylor cocked an eyebrow at the request before complying. She scanned the line. "What am I-"

"Holy lugnuts, is that _Amy Dallon!?"_ Sarge whispered. He'd donned a blue hoodie and a red baseball cap.

Taylor blinked in surprise and followed his gaze. Brown frizzy hair, freckles, it was indeed Amy Dallon, the miracle-worker Panacea herself. "Well I'll be." She mused. "Panacea and three Clockworks walk into a bank. It sounds like the setup to a joke."

Heavy chuckled a bit but suddenly cut himself off. He took a moment to go over what he'd picked up on his audio-processors before he spoke again, his voice turned grim. "I think I just figured out the punchline."

Taylor gave him a funny look. "What do... you..." She trailed off as she heard it too.

Dogs. Barking dogs. _Really big_ barking dogs.

She whipped her head towards the source of the noise and stared in horror as the three over-grown canines she'd encountered entered the bank's lobby.

After a second, she tensed in anger. "Well, I think it's safe to say the deal is off."

The next second, the darkness poured in.


	7. Gear 7

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Clockwork**

**Gear 7**

"_Move!"_ Heavy snarled under his breath. He grabbed Taylor's arm and yanked her out of the line, dragging her away from the wall of darkness. Sarge followed behind, nimbly dodging the legs of the frenzied bank-goers.

Heavy gently but forcefully cleared a path through the crowd, mumbling under his breath the entire time. "Traitorous sons of bitches, when I get my hands on them, can't believe they'd do this, damn straight the deal is off..."

They only just stayed ahead of the darkness, but they were able to reach the far corner of the bank's lobby. Heavy let go of Taylor and gestured her forwards. "Go, hurry!"

Taylor nodded. She crouched into the corner while Heavy stooped over her, shielding her from sight.

"Look-!" That was all Sarge was able to say before the darkness finally pressed down upon them.

Taylor shuddered. It was _horrible_. No sound, no sight, even her sense of touch was numbed, giving her a slight sense of vertigo. It took a great deal of fumbling for her to grab her mask and place it on her face, where it automatically aligned and adhered itself. She almost panicked when she dropped her coat

After what felt like an eternity, the darkness dissipated. Heavy was hiding her from sight with his body. The other people were packed against him, trying their best to stay away from the center of the room. Some of them started to speak upon seeing her, but went quiet when she quickly brought her finger to her lip.

"_Are you alright?"_ Heavy messaged her mask.

Taylor silently nodded. She grabbed her coat off the ground and slipped it back on, slipping her staff out. _"What's going on?" _She discretely twisted pieces of her staff to type back.

"_Sarge is watching them on the outside of this pile-up. Bitch has her dogs on the doors,"_ She could see him grimace beneath his coat. _"They've got backup."_

Clockwork's eyes widened. _"Anybody known?"_

"_The Travellers."_

"_Shit,"_ Clockwork cursed. _"Have you-" _

Heavy shook his head. _"Even at top speed it'll take him a few minutes."_

Clockwork shook her head._ "A few minutes too many. Come on, let's-"_

She was interrupted when a hand slipped out of the crowd and under Heavy's jacket. "Don't move or else-what the hell!?"

Clockwork's eyes widened as she saw who it was. "Panacea!?" She whispered.

The girls eyes widened as she recognized the bronze mask. "Clockwork!? What are you doing here?"

"Making a deposit. And no, that is not sarcasm. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Panacea scowled. "I heard your friend here talking. You made a deal-"

"They contacted us a few days ago, wanted an armistice. I hadn't even agreed yet!"

"I'd say it's safe to say that said deal is down the shit-hole." The trio snapped their attention down to Sarge as he snuck back in.

"What's the news?" Heavy inquired.

"They're robbing the place, obviously." Sarge groused. "And with the way things are, they might just do it. One of them looks like the unholy combination of a shark and a squid, it's keeping itself in front of the doors. Anybody tries anything..." He trailed off ominously.

"I've already called my sister, she's on her way." Panacea whispered.

"Same here. Streak's en route, and the rest are coming too." Said Heavy.

"So boss, what's the plan?" Sarge asked, "We layin' low?"

Clockwork looked down in silence for a few seconds before looking up again. "No."

Panacea gaped at her. "What!?" Other people in the crowd were starting to watch them.

Clockwork met her gaze. "They tried to strike a deal with us because they're scared of us. We're heroes, I say we act like it."

Panacea bit her lip and looked down. "I-I can't, my powers aren't-"

"I wasn't going to recommend that." Panacea gave Clockwork a questioning look, "I was going to say you stay here. These people are scared, they need somebody to keep them calm. You protect the civilians, we've got these guys."

Panacea looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Good luck."

Clockwork nodded in return as she stood up. "We're going to need it."

Just as Heavy began shifting his way out of the crowd, Grue began to speak.

"Alright, listen up people! We are only here for the money, nothing else! This is not a prank, this is not on television, this is real. Just stay where you are, don't try anything, and you can all go back to your day-to-day lives!"

"Or," Clockwork said as she and her teammates exited the crowd, the two androids shedding their disguises. "You choose the second option."

The effect was instantaneous. Grue snapped his head towards her so fast he _must_ have gotten whiplash, and Tattletale suddenly went ghost white. Bitch clenched her fists angrily at the newest intruder and Regent had quickly wheeled around to face them. Meanwhile, the Travelers eyed them warily. Well, the human ones did. It was hard to place an expression on the Shark-Squid thing.

"Oh crap," Grue whispered. Tattletale was stringing together a whole slew of explicatives under her breath.

"In the second option," Clockwork continued. "You turn around, and head right back out that door, with your asses _not_ handed to you. Everyone goes about their day, no harm no foul. Well, the Protectorate will want your heads, but the point stands."

"In the third option," Sarge said loudly, "You attempt to foolishly attack us, and we proceed to BEAT THE TAR OUT OF YOU!"

One of the Travellers, dressed in a suit and top-hat, scoffed. "What the hell are you going to do to us!? I don't know whether or not you can count, tin-man, but we outnumber you nearly three to one." He was either oblivious to or ignored the furious glare Bitch was giving him for ignoring her dogs and the frantic gestures Tattletale was making.

"Yeah, you might outnumber us," Heavy said, eyeing the one he ID'ed as Trickster. "But," He whipped out his mini-gun and shotgun, "We outgun you."

"See, what we have here gentlemen," Sarge said, "Is a case of quantity versus pure and undiluted QUALITY!"

"So," Clockwork said, her arms crossed. "What's it going to be?"

Grue held his hands up and began stepping back. "Alright, alright, we're going, we're going."

Trickster snapped his head around. "_What!?"_

"Trickster, now is not-!"

"No Grue, I am sick of you thinking you're in charge, and you're an idiot for not following through! Ballistic, take them out!"

The armored Traveller's hand shot out and tagged a nearby table, launching it at the group.

Clockwork's glare re-doubled. "So be it. Sarge!"

Despite his short stature, the bot was fast. Sarge had whipped out a disc of metal from his jacket and tossed it on an arc parallel but inferior to the table-turned-projectile. Once the disc was below it, he clicked his detonator. The disc exploded in a pulse of pure force, halting the table's forward momentum, instead tossing it up towards the roof. The would-be robbers followed it up with their eyes in shock.

"That," Sarge said with a smirk, "Is a text-book example of what is known as a 'poor life choice'. ALLOW ME TO DEMONSTRATE THE CONSEQUENCES!"

When the table began to fall back to earth, Sarge dropped another bomb directly beneath himself and detonated it. It put him on an intercept trajectory with the table. When he hit it, he tossed and detonated a third bomb, sending both himself and the table flying towards the enemy.

Ballistic's jaw dropped beneath his mask. "Oh sh-!" That was all he got out before he was-

-replaced with a hapless civilian that was laid out by the table.

Sarge clambered to his feet and gaped in horror. "What. The. HELL!" He roared as he whipped around to face Trickster. "YOU'RE A DEAD-MAN, PENCILNECK!" He whipped a rod of metal and was about to toss it-

"Sarge, don't!"

When Clockwork's cry stopped him. "If you keep using bombs, he'll just use more people as fodder!"

Sarge growled but nodded. "Fine." He switched the sticks for disks again. "Close-combat explosives it is."

Trickster took a step back from the murderous bot. "Genesis, get him!"

The Shark-Squid raised a tentacle to take a swipe at Sarge, but screeched in pain when several brown bolts of energy impacted with the side of it's misshapen body.

"Now really, did you think it'd be that easy?" Heavy said with a grin.

Trickster all but growled. "Bitch, sick your dogs on him!"

Heavy immediately pointed his shotgun at the doors and was met with...nothing?

Heavy blinked in surprise. "The hell?" The dogs were gone!

And he wasn't the only one to notice.

Trickster whipped his head around. "Bitch! Where the hell- Grue! Regent! Tattletale!"

All gone. Neither hide nor hair of the Undersiders could be seen.

Sarge chortled. "HA! My respect for those bottom-feeding cowards has gone up! They've got more brain-cells than you!"

Trickster was livid. "I- you-!"

"Enough fun and games," Clockwork said. "Sarge, take out Ballistic. Heavy, put down that thing. I've got the last two."

"M'AM!" Sarge bellowed, charging at the armored Traveller.

"CHARGE!" Heavy darted towards Genesis.

Clockwork ran towards Trickster, electricity sparking between the prongs of her wrench.

Ballistic tried launching varying tables and chairs at Sarge, but he knocked them all away using the bombs in his palms. "Is this the best you got!?" He launched himself above another projectile, "Because if it is, IT'S PATHETIC!"

Heavy unloaded round after round into the hulking being. Or at least he did until a tentacle knocked away his mini-gun. He brought his shotgun about to bear, but that was knocked away too. Heavy stared at his empty hands for a moment before he grinned savagely. "I don't know what the hell you are,", He said slowly as he reached behind his back, "But I do know this," He whipped out his machete and hatchet. "WE'RE EATING CALAMARI TONITE!" He chopped into one of the tentacles with his hatchet and severed it with his machete. "EN GARDE!"

Clockwork jabbed at Trickster with her staff, but immediately shut the current off moments before impact when she was faced with a panicking civilian. She whipped her head around and caught sight of him arguing with the final member of his group.

"Sundancer-!"

"_No, _Trickster! Not here, not with this many people!"

"Look, you just have to-" He cursed and swapped out again when Clockwork took another jab at him. She glared at Sundancer who backed up, waving her hands.

"P-please, don't make me use my powers, I'll hurt someone!"

"Then shut up and sit down. Or else."

Sundancer swallowed heavily and complied. Clockwork wasn't looking at her. She was searching for Trickster, but he had disappeared.

Trickster breathed heavily. He had warped within the crowd and blended in. The confusion kept anyone from recognizing him. _'Damn it, alright, think Krouse, think. You've got a plan, you always have a plan. Do it for Noelle...'_

He glimpsed the fight and noticed something: Ballistic and Clockwork didn't have the same girth, but their size was approximately the same. And it was taking all of Ballistic's concentration to dodge the demolition bot's strikes. One small slip-up and...

Hr grinned sadistically. _'Bingo. Say good-night, bitch.'_

He was about to swap them-

-when he felt a female hand clamp on to the nape of his neck. He tried looking behind himself to find the culprit. "What the heeeeurgh..." He slumped to the floor, unconscious from the cocktail of hormones that had flooded his body.

Panacea breathed heavily as she looked down at the sleeping villain.

"_We're heroes, I say we act like it."_

She grinned to herself. "Ha...what do you know...I can act like a proper hero after all..."

Heavy dodged another swipe and took another slash. The game of squid-and-droid had been fun while it lasted, but it was time for things to end. He sheathed his machete and withdrew his bazooka, making sure it was loaded with a stun-rocket Sarge had developed. He jumped forwards and stuck it directly into Genesis's rubbery skin. "Say bye-bye!"

He pulled the trigger. The rocket's payload detonated. With a final shriek, Genesis blew up, popping like a balloon.

Heavy blinked in surprise. "Well... that's a thing."

Ballistic whipped his head towards the noise. "Crap!"

The mistake proved to be fatal. Sarge darted forwards and tagged him with a bomb on his chest. "EAT THIS, SHITBISCUIT!" He rolled backwards and detonated it. The resulting explosion flung Ballistic into a wall. He slid down and laid still.

Clockwork nodded. "Good. Now, unless Sundancer wants to try anything," She fixed the girl with a mask-enhanced glare, causing her to whimper, "All that's left is Trickster."

"Actually, he's not going to be a problem anymore."

The trio whipped their heads around and gaped openly as Panacea dragged the unconscious Traveller out of the crowd.

Heavy worked his jaw. "Well I'll be damned..."

Clockwork nodded dumbfounded in agreement. "Panacea, how-!?"

Panacea shrugged timidly. "You told me to protect the civilians, so that's what I did..."

Sarge laughed happily. "Well you sure as hell did that, didn't ya!"

Clockwork nodded. "Well, I guess that's-"

*SLAM*

"BOSS!" "SIS!"

Everyone whipped their heads around to watch as Streak and Glory Girl burst through the door. They immediately dashed to their respective charges.

"Clockwork, are you alright, holy shit-"

"Amy, you're not hurt are you?"

"Streak, I'm fine-"

"Vicky, calm down-"

Heavy heard a commotion outside and glanced out of the open door. He felt his eye-lens twitch as he saw the Wards dashing up the steps, with the rest of the Corps not far behind.

"Things are about to get a whole lot more confusing..."

Sarge cackled in response.


	8. Gear 8

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Clockwork**

**Gear 8**

If Clockwork had been grateful for Panacea's help before, she was just about ready to praise the ground she walked on now.

The Wards had burst in, looking for the robbers. With the rest of the Corps right on their heels, geared up for war, and Heavy and Clockwork still bearing their weapons, the culprits seemed rather obvious.

Thankfully, having the word of Brockton Bay's medical prodigy went a long way towards convincing the Wards of Clockwork's innocence. The odd dozen grateful eye-witnesses didn't do any harm either.

Right now, Clockwork and Panacea were telling the details of what had transpired to Aegis.

Most of the remaining Corps and Wards were working on clean-up, helping civilians and securing the Travelers.

Smiler was chatting enthusiastically with Vista, Sarge was discussing something with Kid Win, showing him one of his bombs, and Deadeye was silently cuffing the Travelers.

Streak was laughing and gesticulating wildly as he told a snickering Clockblocker about what Clockwork _prayed_ for his sake wasn't an incident involving Deadeye, three cans of high-octane diesel, and an oddly vicious turtle.

Sundancer was seated between Hammer and Browbeat, looking absolutely puny as the two casually chatted and flexed their massive body-masses.

Heavy and Glory Girl were hovering protectively behind Clockwork and Panacea, metaphorically and literally. They were discretely eyeing each other. Or, they thought they were.

"After that- oh for the love of-!" Clockwork wheeled around, catching the two of them in the middle of glaring daggers at each other. "Look, I realize you both want to see who deserves the title of 'most overbearing protector', but can it wait?"

Heavy and Glory Girl whipped their heads towards her, sputtering indignantly.

"Thank you." Clockwork looked back at Aegis. "Anyways, after that, Sarge knocked Ballistic out cold and I made sure that Sundancer wouldn't be anymore trouble."

"Then I dragged Trickster out, and my sister and that guy, Streak right? Came charging in, followed by the rest of you and, well, here we are."

Aegis nodded. "Alright, sounds cut and dry... just one thing though," He gave Clockwork a questioning look. "Why were you in the bank in the first place?"

Clockwork shrugged casually. "Simple, I wanted to open a bank account," She glanced back at Heavy. "You still have the money, right?" Heavy nodded and pounded his chest plate. "Good. Probably best to keep it as cash for now."

"Alright then," Aegis said. "Well, I guess that if that's all we'll just take these guys in and-"

"Actually," Clockwork interrupted. "There is one thing."

Aegis blinked in surprise beneath his mask. "What is it?"

"I'd like to ask Sundancer a few questions if you don't mind."

"Er... sure, I guess?"

"Perfect." Clockwork looked Sundancer's way. "Hammer."

The melee bot snapped his head around to her. "Yeah?"

"Bring her here."

Hammer nodded and clamped his hand on Sundancer's shoulder, hauling her to her feet. He frog-marched her to the group.

Sundancer swallowed heavily. "What do you want?"

Clockwork fixed her with a cold glare. "Why was your group here?"

Sundancer froze and immediately began to try and dodge Clockwork's gaze. "We met with the Undersiders and planned to team up and rob this place, that's all."

"Bull." Heavy said. "The Travelers wander from place to place and the Undersiders aren't that well known. The only way you'd have found them is if you'd intentionally looked for them."

"Not to mention," Clockwork added, "That robbing a bank is leagues out of _both_ your M.O.s. You tried to pull this off for a reason. I want to know why."

Sundancer shook her head vigorously. "There wasn't a reason, Tattletale contacted us and we planned it out, that's all, I swear!"

Clockwork narrowed her eyes, her mask reacting accordingly. "Alright then." Sundancer sighed heavily in relief, but tensed again when Clockwork whipped her head around. "Deadeye."

The cloaked droid moved to her side silently.

Clockwork shoved Sundancer towards him "Make her talk."

Deadeye caught her by her shoulders and held her tightly. Sundancer tried to look away from him, but she made one fatal mistake.

She caught sight of his eye.

She couldn't stop staring at it, due to the fact that _it_ wouldn't stop staring at _her._

It was like staring down a predator. It was staring straight through her. Straight into her soul.

Sundancer began to shake before finally she broke down. "We were hired! Somebody hired us, made us contact the Undersiders and work with them! I don't know who or why, I swear, only Trickster knows, he's the one who dealt with him, just please _stop staring at me!"_

Deadeye let go of her shoulders and let her stumble away, gasping hysterically.

The parahumans present stared at the scene in shock.

Glory Girl worked her jaw. "Er...wow. Does he have a Master rating?"

Clockwork shook her head idly, deep in thought. "Nope. He's just really, _really_ good at doing that."

"No kidding!" Streak dashed forwards and slung his arm over a suddenly stiff Deadeye's shoulder. "This guy can squeeze anything out of anyone! Just by _staring_ at them! Am I right, or am... I..."

Streak had made the mistake of turning to look at Deadeye. At his eye.

Streak shook for a second before finally- "_I'm the one who spilled oil on Sarge's workbench while he was helping Clockwork!"_

"_WHAT!?"_ Sarge roared.

Streak began backing away from the crazed bomber. "I-I'm sorry, Sarge, it was an accident, I swear!"

Sarge stalked forwards. "I am going to reduce you to SCRAP METAL!"

"GUYS!" Clockwork shouted without turning towards them. The two of them immediately snapped to attention. "Sarge, you can dismantle him in the ring when we get back to base. Streak, no complaining. For now, at least _try_ and act mature. We have bigger problems."

Streak mimed swallowing heavily while Sarge leered viciously at him.

Aegis was tense. "Somebody _hired_ them for this? Why? Who would hire somebody to rob a bank?"

"I don't know, but one thing is clear," Clockwork said as she looked down, her chin cupped in thought. "This is bigger than bank-robbing. _Much_ bigger," She looked back at Aegis. "We're done here. Tell the Protectorate that we'll be looking into this."

Aegis nodded. "Good luck."

The Tinker was about to walk out but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. "Wait."

Clockwork turned to look inquisitively at Panacea.

"I..." She searched for the words. "Thank you. For what you did here."

Clockwork smiled. "No problem. Just doing my job."

"Is there any way that I could get in contact with you?" Panacea asked.

"Actually, I'd like that too please." Aegis said. "The Protectorate knows where you are, but..."

"After Armsmaster's attempt they aren't so keen on trying to find me anymore?"

Aegis nodded in embarrassment.

Clockwork shrugged. "Fine." She walked over to a table that was still standing and used the pen on it to scribble some numbers on two pieces of paper, which she handed to the two. "Here, my number. Now, if that's all?"

"Yeah, you can go. Thanks for your help."

"Alright then," Clockwork raised her arm and called out. "Fall in! We're heading back to base!"

The Corps moved from where they were around the bank and casually surrounded her as they left the bank without incident.

For the most part.

As they were leaving, Deadeye glanced to the side and caught Shadow Stalker silently glaring at him.

He held her gaze until he left the building.

But Shadow Stalker didn't stop glaring.

And Deadeye didn't forget.

The Corps strolled casually down the beach back to their base. Taylor immediately began casually issuing orders. "Deadeye, Smiler, guard duty." The two immediately headed off, Deadeye clambering up the ships and Smiler warping. "Hammer, construction." He trundled off, slowly swinging his arms. "Streak."

"Let me guess, head back to my room and get to work on finding out who our ever so devious mastermind is and why he hired two gangs of teenage villains to knock over a bank?"

"Wrong."

"On i-wha!?" Streak whipped his head around to stare at her. "Then,what the hell am I doing!?"

"Simple." Taylor gave him a pleasant smile. "You're going to go to the ring with Sarge and take your beating like a man."

Streak mimed swallowing and glanced at Sarge. He all but jumped out of his chassis when he saw the sadistic smirk the demolitions bot was giving him. "You're a dead man."

Streak whimpered pathetically as he followed him away.

"That poor fool. That poor, stupid fool." Heavy lamented casually.

Taylor shrugged in response, then froze suddenly. She whipped her head around and scanned the area.

Nothing. Just somebody walking along the beach and somebody else sleeping against a building.

Heavy followed her gaze critically. "What is it?"

Taylor kept watching before she finally shook her head and began walking in again. "Nothing. Just, just a feeling. That's all."

Heavy grunted in response, watching the beach for a bit before finally he joined her.

Taylor hummed casually as she walked through the Yard. She'd been working on Domination alongside the Cogs for the past hour or so when she had gotten a call from Sarge, who had announced a bit too cheerfully that he was through with Streak and had left him in his room. Or rather, 'what was left of the no good klutzy shitbiscuit', as he had so quaintly put it.

Taylor waved at one of Blaze's bodies as she stepped onto a lift, and he waved back.

Taylor sighed contentedly, leaning on the lift's safety bars. The Yard, or the Ship's Graveyard, as it was known to the rest of the world, had changed immensely. While it was once a rotting mausoleum of nautical vessels, Taylor had found a new use for them.

The time invested was well spent. Though the husks of the ships were left mostly untouched, the exterior of the Yard left looking thoroughly dilapidated, the innards had been thoroughly gutted. They had been recycled and replaced by a labyrinth of catwalks and scaffolding that criss-crossed through and between the ships. The heavier, larger ships had corridors and rooms and labs installed within. Platforms had also been erected between the ships themselves, held above the water by pillars of bronze. These platforms housed works in progress, like Colossus and Domination, and also served as testing sites. The ships were also held up by a submerged forest of pillars, so as to provide stability and prevent sinking. There was still some sway, but nothing too major.

Taylor smiled as she admired her- no, _their_ handiwork. It was amazing what the combination of time and determination could achieve.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she reached a door that had been installed into the side of the freighter in front of her. She rapped on it with her fist. "Streak? You okay?"

"Yeah, for the most part," Came Streak's muffled reply. "Could you come in please? I can't get the door for you."

Taylor raised an eyebrow and snapped her fingers, automatically opening the door. She gaped openly at the sight before her.

"Yeesh, that bad?" Streak asked. "I can't tell, my neck won't move and neither will the rest of my body, plus I'm not getting anything when I try and run diagnostics. I think that Sarge might have hit my central support column."

Taylor nodded slowly. "That he did."

"...I'm just a disembodied head, aren't I?"

"Look on the bright side, we now know for certain that the back-up support system works."

Streak sighed heavily "Well, that explains all the puns Sarge was making. Just put me back together please."

Taylor reached down and picked his head up and placed it on the dilapidated remains of his body. She fiddled with it for a bit until it was finally in it's proper place. She took her wrench out and idly twirled it in her fingers.

"This is going to sting a bit..."

She suddenly hit him upside his chin with it.

"OW!" Streak howled as he stumbled back, limbs flailing as lightning danced off of him. He grasped wildly for his head and jerked it back into position. "Ouch! Why'd you have to do it like that!?"

Taylor shrugged as she grinned to herself. "You brought it on yourself when you screwed with Sarge." Her expression became sober. "Enough fun and games. We need to get to work."

Streak stretched his neck a bit, working his reconfigured support column. "Yeah, sure, on it." He slammed his fist into the wall. Behind him, the panels on the wall flipped open, revealing an array of computer screens. A holographic keyboard materialized in front of Streak.

"Let me guess," He inquired. "Who's pulling the strings?"

Taylor shook her head. "No. We can figure that out later when we have more facts. For now, let's focus on the 'why'."

Streak nodded and began typing on the keyboard. Immediately, screens lit up and the images on them began rapidly switching. One second one showed a news feed, the next an online forum, and on and on and on, each screen reduced to a blur of colors.

Taylor still marveled at the fact that Streak was able to process everything. He wasn't hyper-intelligent or anything like that; his processing speed was just ridiculously accelerated, allowing him to read, comprehend, and file away the facts displayed on the wall within seconds. If it was on the media, Streak would look through every shred of information necessary to find it.

Of course, there _were_ downsides...

"Any chance that it might have something to do with a break-in at a petshop in France?"

"No."

"Slaughterhouse Nine observed gutting a puppy?"

"No, Streak."

"Local union director thrown in the drunk tank?"

"_STREAK!"_

"Alright, alright, sheesh." Streak tapped for a second more before stopping. "I think I've got it." One of the screens froze, displaying a picture from a newspaper. On it was the picture of a girl "Dinah Alcott. Kidnapped today, right out of school. The reason nobody responded was because all eyes were on the bank."

Taylor grit her teeth. "A distraction, damn it."

"There's more." He tapped again, bringing up several online chat clients. "Conversations between her friends. Based on them, I'd bet money that she's a parahuman."

Taylor cursed under her breath. "Any mention of what she can do?"

Streak shook his head. "Snippets, tiny pieces but not enough for a full image. Something about percentages, but that's it."

Taylor shook her head sadly. "Damn it." She repeated. She turned around and began walking out. "Alright, see what you can dig up and monitor all channels. I'm going to bed."

Streak waved at her over his shoulder, engrossed in the screens. "Night."

"Good night."

Taylor sat down heavily on her bed, sighing as she rubbed her eyes. It had been a long day, and she was about ready to hit the hay. She was about to lean back and fall asleep-

When she glanced at the screen in her wall.

After a few seconds of debating with herself, she finally walked over to it and tapped on the keyboard.

She went back to her bed and sat down, waiting.

Finally, the screen lit up.

She smiled.

"Hi dad."

Unseen, Heavy leaned against her doorframe, happily puffing away at his cigar.

**All Gears Installed and Functional**

**Commencing Initialization**


	9. Initialization 1

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Clockwork**

**Initialization 1**

Bakuda muttered under her breath as she rapidly constructed another bomb. "Come on, come on, faster damn it faster!"

"What are you doing?"

Bakuda whipped around, gripping a grenade. "WHO THE FUCK-!" She froze when she saw the speaker and then went back to work. "Oh. It's you. What do you want?"

It was Oni Lee, clad in his costume, staring impassively at her. At least, Bakuda swore it was a costume. Considering how she never saw the emotionless man take it off, it might as well have been a second skin.

"I wish to know why you have accelerated your production of explosives."

Bakuda sneered as she worked. "Why? Why you ask? Simple: I'm going after that rusty pile of bolts that's been stepping on my toes!"

"The Clockworks?"

Bakuda shook her head. "Clockwork, singular. Just one, just that one, that little shit-head. People have been raving all day, 'a metal me' they call him, so much better, so much more talented, they appreciate _his_ 'genius', do they? Well I'll show them, I'll show them, I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!" She ended shouting.

Oni Lee didn't move an inch. "When do you intend to strike?"

Bakuda's sneer became feral. "Tonight."

This drew a reaction from Oni Lee, causing him to tilt his head slightly. "You know where they are?"

Bakuda nodded tersely. "Some flunkie saw them while he was down on the beach. Going into the Boat Graveyard, in plain daylight, not a care in the world!" She growled. "The audacity! They think they can just claim that place?! Make it _their_ territory! Just waltz right in like they _own the damn place!?_ He's dead you hear me? DEAD!"

Oni Lee stared at her silently.

Bakuda twisted around to leer at him. "What're you gonna do? Stop me? Make me stay?" Her grip on the bomb in front of her tightened. "I'd love to see you try."

"I am coming with you."

Bakuda processed that before snarling. "If you think I need _your help-"_

"They struck at the ABB. They injured us. Captured Lung." A hint of steel entered Oni Lee's voice. "I am coming with you."

Bakuda stared at him for a second before smirking.

"The bomber is mine."

"I do not care."

Bakuda's smirk widened. She grabbed a jacket on the table and tossed it at Oni Lee, who caught it effortlessly. She then slipped her own mask over her face and grabbed the bombs on the table.

"Let's get those bastards."

"Hey Leet, you almost done?"

The scrawny geek flipped off the welding torch, sighing in exasperation. "Almost, Uber! Jeez, can you be patient for a second!?"

Uber rolled his eyes. "Fine fine. Sheesh, we haven't even started the episode and we're already emulating the game." He frowned. "You sure this is a good idea?"

Leet shrugged and went back to work. "What's not to like!? We've got enemies lined up, the armor is almost ready, the guns-!" He looked up at him. "You're ready to go, right?"

Uber hefted a huge machine gun and fired a burst of bullets, each eviscerating a can of soda that was laying around their base.

Leet smirked. "I knew the Revenant was a good choice! We're golden! It's gonna be epic!"

Uber grunted noncommittally. "Yeah, but... isn't this a bit, I don't know, racist? Think about it, we're targeting these guys because they're 'soulless robot invaders', but it goes against the message of acceptance and tolerance in the other two games!"

Leet held up a finger. "One word for ya: Renegade!"

Uber pondered that for a second before sighing. "Alright, I guess. Not going to win us any points from the Paragons, but what the hell... also, you're sure you know where they are?"

Leet simply snapped his fingers in response. A floating metal ball with a camera lens faded into sight. "I crossed them while I was coming back from the mini-mart. Thought it was a good time to try out my new stealth-camera. Followed them straight back to their base."

Uber frowned. "If word gets out we violated the rules-"

"We aren't! We're going after the bots, they don't _have_ any secret identities to expose! Plus, she's a vigilante, nobody else will come after us! Worse comes to worse, we offer to split the cash we get from this episode, no harm no foul."

Uber remained silent.

Leet flicked off his torch, smirking victoriously. "Before you give me your final word, do me a favor. Look at this!" He hefted up the breast plate, displaying it victoriously. Pitch black, with a logo on the right breast: N7. "And tell me no."

Uber eyed it appreciatively before sighing, a smirk playing across his lips." What the hell, let's put on a show!"

Leet grinned right back.

"Hurry up, will ya!" Skidmark roared.

Squealer yelled something back at him, but it was lost over the roar of the engine. It was definitely something lewd and profane, though.

Skidmark growled, pacing around the dirty garage. He wanted the tank-truck running and he wanted it running now!

Finally, this was their chance! Too long had the Merchants gone without recognition, too long had there been no respect!

He smirked. But now... now they would rise!

One of his customers had paid him for his fix in information: He'd been sleeping near the Boat Graveyard, and had woken up to see the bitch Tinker, Clockwork, going in.

It was perfect! Charge in, slaughter the bitch and her freaky tin-men, and come out showing the world that the Merchants were a force to be reckoned with! Genius!

The engine roared louder than ever. Squealer screamed in delight.

"HELL YEAH!" Skidmark roared. He looked over his shoulder. "Mush, you're in charge! Hold the fort down!"

Mush said something. Considering how he was drugged out of his mind, it could have been anything from 'yes' to 'screw you' to 'turtles eat leprechauns'.

Skidmark clambered into the seat next to Squealer.

"COME ON! LET'S GO CAP A BITCH!"

Saint tapped away at the keyboard in front of him before finally leaning back. "Preparations are complete. The suits are ready."

He could feel Mags frowning behind him from the tone of her voice. "Saint... I'm still not sure this is right."

"I feel I must agree." Dobrynja added. "She is just a girl."

"She's a menace." Saint returned. "Just a few day ago she had five of those things, now she has six. That's a new A.I. in a couple of _days_, Dobrynja. The rate she's been popping them off..." He shook his head. "You saw how she interacted with them. She's deluded herself. She thinks they're people."

"Still..."

"How else do you explain us finding them, then?" Saint drew up a map of Brockton Bay. An area on the northern part of the beach was marked. "Huge amounts of information are streaming into that place, when all that's there is a bunch of wrecks. I don't know what they're using it for, but it's them. We can't leave them be. Why else do you think we came here?"

They were set up a few miles out of Brockton Bay, having gone cross-country with their suits over the past few days so as to close in on the latest threat to humanity.

Mags was silent for a moment before speaking. "... we don't kill her. We talk to her, and we tell her to stop."

Saint nodded. "I know. But if she won't listen to reason..."

"Then we will have to persuade her?" Dobrynja asked solemnly.

Saint bowed his head. "I don't like it any more than you do, but unless we do, then all of humanity is at stake. If you disagree, then leave now."

His two companions were silent for a second.

"I'm in."

"Me too."

Saint nodded decisively, standing up. "Then let's get to it. Tell the men to suit up. We strike immediately."

Midnight, or close to it. No moon shone, leaving Brockton Bay to sleep, wreathed in it's sheath of inky darkness.

But one person was awake.

Shadow Stalker was perched on the roof of a building, glaring venomously at the silhouette of the Boat Graveyard.

_He_ was in there. _He_ was waiting. And she was going to set things straight.

She growled under her breath as she remembered _him._

Remembered his eye.

The eye of a predator.

She snarled and took out a metal bolt, loading it into her crossbow. It wasn't right! That _thing_ was made of metal! It was artificial! It wasn't real! It had no _right_ to have that eye! It wasn't a predator, just a pale imitation!

And she would prove it. She was going to track him down, she was going to _prove_ that she was superior, that nothing, _nothing_ could compare to a genuine predator.

The roar of an engine made her snap her head around. Something that looked like an amalgamation of a tank and a monster truck was tearing up the street, straight towards the beach.

'_Squealer!?' _Shadow Stalker mentally cursed, _'Why the fuck are the Merchants coming!?'_

She wheeled around and leapt off the roof, landing on the street and darting towards the ships. _'Doesn't matter. So long as I put that fucking _freak_ down, I could care less about what they do. And if they off the bitch who made that thing, all the better!'_

Shadow Stalker continued her dash towards her target, unimpeded.

Four parties simultaneously made their way into the Boat Graveyard. A fifth was well on their way, flying through the air.

All were unaware that tonight was about to become a very, _very_ long night.

**Initialization Complete**

**Commencing Piston Installation**


	10. Piston 1

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Clockwork**

**Piston 1**

_RED ALERT! RED ALERT! RED ALERT!_

That was the message that Taylor was woken up to. She stared in horror at her room's computer screen as it flashed it repeatedly.

Her door slammed open as Heavy barged his way in, his cameras filled with fear. "There are intruders in the Yard."

Taylor leapt out of bed and ran out of her room, pulling on her costume as she went. "Call everyone together in the lab, get the Cogs out in full force. I want them IDed now."

They ran through several corridors before finally they entered the lab. The metal lab table had been replaced by a different table. This one was wider, with a holographic projector displaying a map of the Yard. Several points on it were flashing.

Four of the Cogs and all of the Corps save for Deadeye were present. Streak was working furiously, surrounded by holographic panels that were all flashing information at him.

"What's the situation?" Clockwork- Taylor was long gone- demanded.

Streak tapped several buttons, causing images to appear over the flashing points. "Four groups of trespassers. Bakuda and Oni Lee, Squealer and Skidmark in one of their rides, Uber and Leet, and last but oh so _far_ from least, Shadow Stalker. None of them are aware that we know they're here."

Hammer crossed his arms, glaring at the image of Shadow Stalker skulking through their home. "Why is she here? Did the Protectorate send her?"

"_No."_

Clockwork jumped slightly in surprise as Deadeye's voice came in over her mask.

"_She's here for me."_

"How do you know that?" She asked as she went to work on the hologram. She began tapping several platforms, activating their support pillars so that they would submerge themselves. Powerful the completed components might be, she wasn't willing to risk them. She also relocated the already submerged Vault as far as possible from the intruders. "And where are you?"

"_I know. And I'm at the crow's nest."_

Clockwork clenched her eye shut. "Dare I ask why?"

"_We've got more incoming."_

Clockwork cursed. "Who?"

The map on the table zoomed out to show the whole of Brockton Bay and beyond. About two miles out and closing fast was a cluster of dots.

"_Dragonslayers. Seven of them, prepped for war."_

The Corps members not working froze. Save for Smiler

"You have got to be SHITTING ME!" Sarge roared.

"That sounds like fun! " Smiler cried, jumping up and down.

"Looks like we've got a fight on our hands." Hammer said, pounding his fists together.

"Any chance they're here for something else?" Heavy asked tiredly.

"Do you really think we're that lucky?" Streak shot back.

"Enough!" Clockwork shouted. All conversation halted. "We have a situation. We're lucky they haven't actually ran into one of us yet." She sighed heavily. "Once the fighting starts, this will turn into a clusterfuck. As confident as I am in the Yard, I want to have all the advantages we can get. Let's break it down." She tapped on Uber and Leet's image, causing it to zoom in and show the duo walking through the metal walkways of their base, clad in heavy armor and carrying futuristic guns. "What's the game they're playing?"

Streak scanned it quickly before pointing at Uber's chest. "That logo. N7. Mass Effect, a sci-fi/shooter trilogy from Earth Aleph." He sent a synopsis of the games to each member.

Sarge's jaw dropped. "GETH?! THOSE _RACIST_ SONS OF-"

Heavy growled. "I'm going to _gut_ those two."

Hammer mimed cracking his knuckles.

The Cogs were revving their tools in fury. "Smash them!" "Burn them!" "Pierce them!" "Slice them!"

"Wait."

They all froze and looked at Clockwork.

"Boss?" Hammer asked.

Clockwork smirked as she read a part of the summary. "We can play this to our advantage."

"But Boss!" Heavy protested, "This is a clear act of-"

"I know, I know," Clockwork said. "But I have a plan."

The Clockwork Corps all stared at her for a second before those that could grinned. Victory was assured.

"What's the plan, Boss?"

"Alright, first..."

Uber peeked around the corner. "Clear." He swung around the wall, sweeping back and forth with his gun as he kept an eye out for hostiles.

Leet followed behind, pistol clenched tightly in his hands. Unlike his partner, his eyes were wandering all over, both up and down. "Holy crap, Uber! This place!" He all but drooled as he observed the intricate maze of metal. "It's amazing!"

Uber grunted back, his attention drawn forwards. "I guess."

"No, you don't get it, you're not a Tinker!" Leet said as he marveled at the structures around him. "This place is an architectural masterpiece! Our views are going to go up from airing this alone!"

"Maybe," Uber replied, "But it's a tactical nightmare. It's a maze, and I don't doubt it's creators know every inch of it by heart."

"Damn straight!"

Uber and Leet whipped their weapons towards the voice above them. Uber had his finger on the Revenant's trigger and Leet had one hand off his pistol, becoming surrounded by a wavering blue aura.

They were met with a tiny metal robot waving it's hands frantically. "Woahwoahwoah! Hold it, hold it! Truce! Peace! Cease fire!"

Uber and Leet froze in surprise for an instant before snapping into character.

"Why should we listen to a geth drone like you?" Uber demanded gruffly.

"B-but we're _not_ geth, believe me!" The small robot protested. Under it, a panel of the ship flipped around, displaying a computer screen. Words began to run across it. _"OOC Speech."_

Leet blinked. "What the hell-"

"We're an independent colony of AI," The robot continued. "Completely separate from the geth. We just want to exist in peace, be left alone! We don't want war! But people keep mistaking us for geth or for dangerous AI and attacking us! Like you, and the others!"

"_There are other people in the Yard. All of them have hostile intentions. You, on the other hand, are doing this for fun and profit. But we can spin that to both our advantages."_

"Please, we're asking you for your help! We can fight them off, but any aid will be greatly appreciated!"

"_You have a choice: Paragon, you help us fight off the others and we let you leave unmolested, maybe even come up with some form of extended alliance in the future, as well as keeping in line with this episodes theme."_

"However..." The bot's tone became hostile. "If you decide to attack us as well, you'll become our enemies too."

"_Renegade, we kick your asses and deliver you gift-wrapped to the PRT. And we'll do it so fast, you won't have enough money from the episode for bail."_

"So!" The screen split down the middle, the left glowing blue with a wing displayed, the right red with a star. "What's your choice?"

Uber and Leet exchanged looks.

"I do prefer playing Paragon anyways." Leet said quietly.

Uber nodded at him. The two relaxed their positions. "We'll help."

"Good."

The two whipped around, looking up a bit to meet the gaze of the robot that had guns pointed at both their backs.

"That means I won't have to waste my ammo on you." He continued. "The name's Heavy. For the time being, welcome to the Clockwork Corps."

Uber and Leet stared at him for a second before Uber glared at Leet. "Next time, we integrate a mini-map. I don't care what the hell it runs on or how shitty it eventually becomes over time. A mini-map."

Leet nodded weakly.

Uber sighed and looked back at Heavy. "So, who else is attacking you guys?"

"Bakuda, Oni Lee, Squealer, Skidmark, and Shadow Stalker. And we've got a whole squad of Dragonslayers coming to visit."

The two gaped openly at him. Leet snapped his jaw shut. "Wait, Shadow Stalker?! The crazy bitch in the Wards?!"

Heavy nodded and pointed behind them. Turning around, the two saw that the screen that had been talking to them was instead displaying Shadow Stalker creeping around in the dark.

Leet blinked before snapping his head around. "How much of this place do you have under surveillance?"

Heavy lifted a camera cover. "All of it. Why?"

Uber grinned. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

Leet snapped his fingers, exposing his camera. "This is how we tracked you, sorry about that, and right now, it's transmitting our show." He tapped a piece of it's plating, causing it to flip up and show a USB port. "What would you guys say about us making this viral?"

Heavy and the small robot stared for a second before simultaneously grinning. "That can be arranged." Heavy stated. He wheeled around and slapped the side of the nearest ship, causing it to open and reveal a hidden passage. He grinned over his shoulder. "Come with me. Let us begin a most... fortuitous partnership."

Uber and Leet glanced at each other again.

"Well..." Leet said.

Uber shrugged and walked in. "Down the rabbit hole."

Leet followed behind, glancing back as the door slid shut behind them.

Shadow Stalker glanced around as she moved forwards. Nothing in sight.

"Damn I seriously hate this place," She muttered to herself. Ever since she had reached the renovated sections of the Graveyard, she hadn't been able to liberally phase through the walls and catwalks due to the power wires running through them. When she'd first tried, it hadn't been pleasant.

"How the hell am I supposed to find him in this shit hole!?" She whispered.

"Looking for someone?"

Shadow Stalker whipped around, her crossbow leveled at the voice. Her eyes narrowed when she saw who it was.

"_You."_

"Me." Deadeye replied in his neutral voice. "Why are you here, Shadow Stalker?"

Shadow Stalker did her best to keep her excitement down and maintain a stable voice. "The PRT. They sent me here. Wanted me to keep an eye on you guys."

"Bull." Deadeye stated. "You're lying."

Shadow Stalker started. "Wha- I-!"

"Come now, Shadow Stalker," Deadeye continued. "Do you honestly think I believe that? Tell the truth. After all..."

Unseen in the shadows, a hidden Cog smirked as his cameras zoomed in on the conversation.

"_It's just you and me."_

Leet roared with laughter as he typed furiously at the board in front of him. "This. Is. _Priceless! _Scandal in the Wards, on _our_ show! Our ratings are going through the roof!"

Streak chuckled in return. "You should see the official channels! The PRT is furious! Oh, what's this?" He gasped in mock-horror at the data in front of him. "A virus, to silence _us? _Well, if the venerable Directors of the PRT think it's for our own good- DENIED!" Streak cackled maniacally as he typed several streams of code. "First Amendment, bitches! Our voices shall be heard!" He turned an eye back to Shadow Stalker. "And so shall hers."

Shadow Stalker shook with fury at the condescension, the superiority she could feel in his voice. "You."

Deadeye tilted his head. "Hm?"

"I said I'm here for you!"

"..." Deadeye was silent for a second. "...do you want to rephrase that?"

Shadow Stalker growled in anger. "I'm here to _fucking kill you!"_

The command room had fallen silent.

"Jackpot." Streak whispered reverently.

"..." Deadeye stared at her. Finally, he spoke.

"Little over a week since I pinned you," He said. "And you still haven't let it go..." His stare evolved into a glare. "You're pathetic."

Shadow Stalker scoffed. "That's just a piece of it, you freak."

"Then why?"

"I just said it! You're a _freak!" _Shadow Stalker roared. "You act like a fucking predator but you're nothing but a fake!"

Deadeye stared at her in silence for a full minute. He barely kept his cameras from twitching. "..._what."_

Shadow Stalker continued ranting "You walk like a predator, you act like a predator, that look in your eye! You're a predator but you're a fucking _fake!_ A knock-off, a hoax! You're just a worthless piece of trash that doesn't deserve that eye! And I'm going to rip it out of you."

Deadeye's camera really _did_ twitch this time. "You want to kill me because I'm a fake predator. And that would make you... what? A real predator?"

"_Yes!"_

It took all of Deadeye's discipline to keep from facepalming at the sheer _insanity _that was being stated in front of him. "I take it back, you're not pathetic, you're insane."

This set her off on a new tirade. Had Deadeye had a weaker will, he would have actually laughed as she essentially threw a temper tantrum.

Others did not contain such force of will.

The control room shook with laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Streak guffawed as he pounded helplessly on the table.

"She-she said that!" Leet gasped, shaking with mirth. "She said that, in front of the world! _And she has no idea!" _Leet nearly collapsed as his laughter shook him.

Streak gained enough control to tap a hologram, then collapsed into a fit of giggles again as he saw what was displayed. "The forums are eating it up! 'Ward gone wild!', 'Shadow Stalker takes a stroll on the wild side!', oh, this is the best! 'Shadow Stalker: Crazy or Craziest?'! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Leet calmed down as well and checked a screen. His already grinning face turned into a smirk. "Check this out!" He swiped his hand, sending it over to Streak.

Streak looked at it. His cameras widened in awe. "No. Fucking. Way." He immediately scrambled and pressed a few buttons. "Deadeye, you read me?"

"_I read you, what is it?" _Deadeye replied silently, his gaze fixed on the enraged Parahuman before him.

"_The PRT is talking about her! Far as I can tell, they're pretty much planning on canning her!"_

Deadeye's cameras widened marginally. _"...you're serious."_

"_As an EMP. Violated probation, voiding her contract, prior felonies, they're bringing it all up! To put things simply-"_

"_Her ass is mine." _Deadeye leaned forwards. "I think you're forgetting something, Shadow Stalker."

The ex-Ward was breathing heavily as she glared up at the object of her hatred. "What?!"

"The way you've been speaking, you seem to think that predators are at the top of the food chain."

"We are! We're above the worthless prey, we're stronger-!"

"You're wrong."

Shadow Stalker stared at him incredulously. _"What!?"_

"You see," Deadeye said as he slowly stood up from his perch. "There is something that _surpasses_ the predator. Something that goes well beyond it, that hunts it down and skins it's long-dead corpse."

Shadow Stalker shook with fury at the blasphemy being stated before her. "What the fuck would that be?"

Deadeye whipped his rifle up to bear. "A hunter." He blasted off three shots at her.

Shadow Stalker jerked back, jumping back to avoid the shots as they slammed into the floor where she'd been standing. She tried to swing around and fire at him, but was forced to keep moving by more shots.

"Run, little predator..." Deadeye said as he kept firing at her.

Shadow Stalker finally had enough and darted down a nearby opening in the ships.

Deadeye fired several more rounds after her. "RUN!" He roared. He stood up and jumped to another piece of metal, chasing after her.

Leet whistled as he watched the pursuit. "Wow. The hunt is on, huh?"

Streak nodded. "You know, he could have easily hit her by now."

Leet blinked in surprise. "Then why hasn't he yet?"

Streak shrugged. "We all get our kicks somehow. I surf the web for useful info, Hammer likes to punch things, Deadeye just so happens to have a bit of a sadistic streak."

"Isn't that a bit..." Leet searched for the word.

"Dark?" Streak shrugged. "It happens. We can't all be saints, you know. Besides, he won't hurt her, just scare the shit out of her. Anyways!" Streak tapped on the keyboard. "What's Uber, Heavy and Hammer's status?"

Leet scanned the data and grinned. "In position. They're ambushing Skidmark and Squealer now."

"COME ON OUT YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Skidmark shouted. "COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!"

The two druggies were ripping through the Boat Graveyard on Squealer's literal monster-truck, crashing through walls and walkways. The varying weapons on it were firing randomly, hitting and missing the surrounding ships.

"COME ON! BRING IT YOU FUCKING COW-GAH!" Skidmark was thrown forwards when the truck was brought to a sudden halt. "What- the fuck!?" He exclaimed as he saw what was stopping them.

Hammer was holding the truck back, fists gripping the fender, his feet digging into the platform beneath him. The truck's tires squealed pointlessly against the metal surface.

Squealer tried to fire the vehicles weapons at him, but due to his close proximity, they all ended up over-shooting him.

Skidmark swore profusely in anger.

Now, an intelligent person would have set the vehicle in reverse, moved back so as to blast Hammer into scrap.

Skidmark was not an intelligent person.

"EAT THIS YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" He roared as he swung his arm in a wide arc, materializing one of his trademark patterns along the ground.

Hammer slid back a few feet before he engaged a mechanism within himself. Clamps folded out of his legs and dug into the metal around his feet, anchoring him in place. He let out an involuntary groan at the weight of the vehicle pressing into him.

Skidmark cackled at the small victory. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT YOU METAL BASTARD!?"

Hammer slowly raised his head and met Skidmark's gaze through the windshield. His cameras were full of determination. "Actually..." He ground out. ""I like it a whole fucking lot! NOW!"

Uber and Heavy popped up from out of hiding on both sides of the truck. Heavy had his missile launcher prepped and Uber was toting a M-560 Hydra.

Simultaneously, they lined up their shots and unloaded their weapons into the vehicle's undercarriage. The roughly built structure was unable to support the barrage of ordinance and the carriage was separated from the wheels.

Skidmark and Squealer gripped at the dashboard. "WHAT THE-!?"

Hammer's camera's flashed. "Bye!"

Hammer let go of the carriage and ducked down. Squealer and Skidmark screamed as Skidmark's powers took effect and launched them into the wall ahead of them, which they impacted into with a resounding crash. Seconds later, Skidmark's power shut off.

Uber gasped from exhaustion. "Are...Are they-?"

"Dead?" Heavy asked. He glanced towards the wreck. One of the Cogs popped out and gave him a thumbs up. "Nah, they'll live."

Uber sighed in relief.

Hammer grunted as he stood back up. "Come on, let's get moving. We've got more guests to greet."

Heavy and Uber groaned in response.

Leet whooped in joy. "Sweet! Our show is going through the roof!"

"And _we_ are getting hailed as heroes! This is great publicity!" Streak added. "Moving on! Let's see how Bakuda and Oni Lee are holding up!"

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, FUCK!" Bakuda cursed as she ran.

Bakuda was no fool. She'd expected traps upon entering the Graveyard. She'd expected trickery. She'd expected just about everything.

But a fucking bronze _boulder!?_

"FUCK!" Bakuda roared. She dug through her suit for a bomb, any bomb that could save her from the fate of resembling a pancake. Finally, she gripped one, loaded it into her grenade launcher, and fired it over her shoulder.

The next second, she tripped and fell flat on her face. She tensed and screamed when she felt...

...a wave of liquid that had once been the metal orb wash over her.

Bakuda gasped desperately. This was _not_ how she had envisioned things.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Bakuda's fists clenched as she heard that infuriating laugh erupt from the walls.

"What's wrong Bakuda? You okay? YOU LOOK A LITTLE WASHED UP! HAHAHAHA!"

The cheap knock-off she'd come to kill had been laughing and taunting her from out of sight the second that things had gone sour.

The entire place was insane. The floor shifted, walls moved, and the walls were packed with a hundred and one ways of making her life hell.

"FUCK!" Bakuda shouted as she fired a bomb at the wall. "YOU!"

A hatch on the wall opened and a disk was tossed out. The disk exploded, tossing Bakuda's bomb into the air, where it detonated harmlessly. That was another infuriating thing, her target kept countering every bomb she threw with a bomb of his own, making piercing the walls an impossibility.

As for the person she'd entered with...

Oni Lee teleported into sight ahead of her. The next second, he faded ash-grey as he was replaced by a clone. It made to activate the jacket she'd given him, but before it could, there was a flash and the clone was disemboweled and beheaded.

The manic Clockwork teleported again,her laughter echoing throughout the surroundings. "WHEE! THIS IS FUN!"

Bakuda growled. This could _not _be happening to her!

"Who said you could stop running!?"

A pair of noises above her caused her to look up. Her eyes widened behind her mask as the twin mini-gun barrels began to spin. "Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me."

"RUN, SHITBISCUIT!"

Bakuda ran, energy-bolts nipping at her heels.

"Damn..." Leet said. "Out of curiosity, how much do you guys have stocked in here?"

"Leet," Streak said slowly. "You've gotten to know a good deal about us during the time you've been in here. Be honest: Do you _really_ want to know?"

Leet was silent for a moment he swallowed heavily. "No. No I do not."

Streak nodded. "Anyways, as for the Boss..." He pointed at a blinking dot standing on top of one of the ship decks. "She's greeting the last guests."

Saint stared ahead from within his suit. They would be on the Boat Graveyard in minutes.

Suddenly, a notice appeared on his visor's HUD.

_-Incoming Transmission-_

Saint blinked in confusion and let it through.

"_Hello."_

Saint frowned. That was a teenager's voice. "Who are you, how are you on this frequency?"

"_My name is Clockwork. I presume that you are Saint. Am I correct?"_

Saint immediately tensed. "What do you want?"

"_I'll make it short. You're heading right for us. I don't know why, but I want you gone. Now."_

Saint grit his teeth. "And why should we do that?"

"_I'll make you."_

Saint snorted at the declaration. "Not happening." He replied coldly. "We're coming to you, we're not leaving until we get what we want, and there's nothing you can do about it. End of discussion."

The voice on the line was silent for a moment before finally, _"...so be it."_

_-Transmission Terminated-_

"If she thinks that we're going to let her get away with what she's doing..." Saint muttered under his breath. Suddenly, another notice flashed on his visor, this one flashing urgently.

_-ALERT! TARGET LOCK DETECTED!-_

Saint's eyes shot wide. _'The hell!?'_ He noted with mounting panic that the warning had come up on the other suits accompanying him.

"What's..." He trailed off.

A portion of their destination had been illuminated in brown light and something had shot out, headed right towards them.

Saint paled as he recognized what that something was.

Missiles.

A _lot_ of missiles.

"Aw fuck me."


	11. Piston 2

**Clockwork**

**Piston 2**

Clockwork huffed as she watched the missiles fly. Even tapping into the Yard's power supply, there was still a lot of strain from manufacturing so much ordinance at once.

'_Well'_ Clockwork thought with a wry grin. _'If the Protectorate wasn't on their way before, they are now.'_

She tapped her mask. "Streak, you watching this?"

"_Always, Boss. This is gonna be one helluva fireworks display, huh?"_

Clockwork nodded. "Yup, now all we have to do is sit back... and..." Clockwork trailed off at the sight before her.

The Dragonslayers had split up, and were weaving through the air, blasting at the missiles that trailed after them. One of the missiles almost hit one of them, but was prematurely detonated by a flurry of bright lights that spouted from the armor.

Clockwork felt her eye twitch. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Streak was also dumbfounded. _"Huh. Well what do you know? They're actually pretty good."_

Suddenly, one of the missiles managed to impact the back of one of the suits, exploding in a cloud of fire and shrapnel. Just as the suit began to plummet, it's back popped off and the pilot ejected safely, leaving the suit to plummet to the streets below.

Clockwork smirked again. "Not good enough."

Still though, prospects weren't positive. Only one other Dragonslayer was successfully downed. The remaining five dealt with the missile swarm and returned to their previous trajectory, heading straight for the Yard.

Clockwork cursed as she took took a step back. "Alright, so maybe they're good after all." She slammed her staff onto the floor. The panel of metal she was on descended, taking her below the ships deck, the opening sealing above her. She jumped off of the platform and began running along the walkways.

She tapped her mask again. "This is Clockwork. We've got five Dragonslayers incoming, I'm heading back to command now. ETA is-"

CRASH!

An impact shook the ship. Clockwork grabbed onto the railings to steady herself. Shakily, she tapped her mask again. "Scratch that. They're here, they must have some kind of accelerator. Be careful, they're not here to play."

A chorus of acknowledgements came over her mask. Another huge impact shook the ship, prompting Clockwork to run even faster.

**-o-**

A hail of bullets impacting above Heavy's head prompted him to run even faster. "MOVE, DAMN IT!" He roared at Uber and Hammer as they trailed behind him.

Following them closely was one of the Dragonslayers, trying to blast the trio to kingdom come.

Heavy activated his radio. _"STREAK! WE NEED A WAY OUT! NOW!"_

"_Alright, opening a way in, dead ahead!"_

A panel of wall in front of them slid open, large enough for all three to get through.

Heavy slid to a stop in front of the entry and twisted around, whipping out his mini-gun. He opened fire on the Dragonslayer, forcing him to halt and cover his body with his suit's arms.

Heavy gestured at the other two. "Come on, hurry!"

Uber and Hammer ran in past him. Uber stopped and whipped around, pelting the Dragonslayer with his own bullets. The techno-merc switched tactics, accelerating towards the door at top speeds, ignoring the projectiles.

Heavy cursed as he stepped back. _"CLOSE IT, DAMN IT, CLOSE IT!"_

The panel slid back into place. There was a resounding crash as the suit slammed into the metal.

Uber panted heavily as he leaned over, trying to catch his breath. "H...holy shit... she... wasn't... kidding... they're not... playing around..."

Hammer growled angry and slammed his fist into the wall. "I could have taken him!"

Heavy shook his head. "No, you couldn't. He'd have just flown out of reach."

Hammer grumbled to himself.

Uber lifted his head to look at Heavy. "What do we do now?"

"Catch your breath," Heavy said, "Then we head to command and re-group."

BLAM!

The trio ducked their heads at the noise them and stared at the iron panel that had covered their escape.

There was a glowing, semi-melted hole in it.

BLAM!

And now there was another.

BLAM!

And another.

Heavy took a step back. "Actually, I take that back. Run."

BLAM!

"NOW!" He roared. The trio ran off again.

**-o-**

Taylor walked into command, where Leet and Streak were working furiously.

"Status report."

"Situation's bleak." Streak said, not turning his head away from the screens. "I don't know what the hell these things are made of, but they're tanking everything we try and throw at them. They blast through walls, gun down turrets, rockets are shot down, nothing works! They're just tearing through the Yard, shredding everything they can get their hands on! It's a miracle they haven't hit anything critical!"

Leet shook his head. "It doesn't matter that we can control the surroundings, the boobytraps in this place are worthless because they're not even getting _close _to them!"

"Also," Streak added, "Smiler, Sarge and Deadeye are handling the others, so they can't do anything either."

Clockwork made a very convincing imitation of Skidmark. The Yard, her greatest accomplishment, was now all but working against them. She'd underestimated her enemy, and now she was paying for it.

Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to think of a plan. Finally, she came to a grim conclusion. "We need to move out this out of the Yard and onto the beach." She immediately called up a holographic keyboard and began typing, activating her radio while she did so. "Sarge, Smiler, Deadeye, I'm redirecting the walls. Force your targets out of the Yard and deal with them. Hammer, Heavy, I'm opening a path to two of the Dragonslayers. Both of you find one, start a game of chicken, and get them out of here. Streak, you go after the third. Leet, meet back up with Uber and get the fourth. I've got the fifth. The Cogs will provide support and distraction." She tapped a final key and turned around, walking out. "Move!"

Leet and Streak followed her out, the door sealing behind them.

**-o-**

Shadow Stalker leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. The..._thing_ chasing her was a demon! She barely even had a second to stop. The fact that she was able to catch her breath was nothing short of a-

A shot ricocheted off the wall near her head.

Scratch that, she couldn't stop to breath, she could only run faster.

Looking up ahead, what she saw gave her hope. The beach! She'd found her way out, she was free of this hell hole!

Shadow Stalker made a mad dash for the exit. She almost laughed in joy as she felt the metal give way to sand. _'I'm free!' _She mentally crowed. _'Now I just have to shake this bastard, get back to HQ, tell them how he attacked me, and I'm in the-'_

There was a flash of blue, a tingle in her body, and then everything went _pain._

**-o-**

Deadeye stared down at Shadow Stalker's twitching form. He looked back up at the person who'd incapacitated her. "Not bad."

Battery nodded as she flicked the stun gun off. "Thanks. For what it's worth, the Protectorate and the PRT extend the sincerest of apologies for Shadow Stalker's actions. Rest assured, she _will_ be punished to the full extent of the law and protocol."

Assault chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, we had no idea she was like this! After all, it's not like the Protectorate employs villains or loonies, you know!"

Velocity rolled his eyes and coughed into his fist. "*Cough*wise-ass*cough*."

Deadeye ignored them, continuing to stare at Battery. Or rather, _past _her. "As fascinating as this conversation is, I believe a new issue has decided to unveil itself."

Battery blinked beneath her mask and turned around to see what Deadeye was staring at. "What do... you..." She trailed off in horror as she saw what he was seeing.

Velocity and Assault whipped around. Both their jaws dropped simultaneously at what they saw.

"Shit."

"Weeeell fuck."

**-o-**

Bakuda dashed out of the Yard and collapsed on the beach panting heavily. _'That... little... bastard... When I get my hands on him...'_

"WELL HOWDY, SHITBISCUIT!" She snapped her head around and stared in fury at the smirking robot before her. "And how are you this fine day?"

Bakuda twitched in fury for a second before she screamed in fury, whipped her grenade launcher around, pulled the trigger, and-

*Click* *Click* *Click*

Stared in horror at her weapon.

Sarge smirked even more. "Well whaddaya know? EMPTY! While _I _on the other hand..." He whipped out and twirled a stick of bronze. "Just restocked! QUITE the coincidence, wouldn't you say?"

Bakuda breathed heavily as she stared at him. "Oni...Oni Lee... He'll-!"

Sarge snapped his fingers. "Oh, right, almost forgot about him. One sec..." He tossed the metal baton into the air. "HEADS UP!"

The next few things happened in a blur.

First, Oni Lee appeared in front of Sarge. Then, he followed the stick up through the air with his eyes. Then...

BANG!

The stick detonated in a blinding flash and a deafening blast.

Oni Lee stumbled back, trying to regain his balance, and was thus unprepared for the ballistic bot that teleported behind him.

"HI THERE!"

Smiler tackled him heavuily to the ground. Her grin flashed as she raised her claws. "I WIN!" She brought them down on his head, hitting the side of his head with the flat off her blades, knocking the demon-themed teleporter out cold.

Smiler began teleporting around joyously. "I WIN! I WIN! I WIN! YAY!"

Sarge chuckled at his sibling's antics. "THAT YOU DID! That you did! Now, let me at that jacket of his. Don't want that thing goin' BOOM now, DO WE?" He walked over to the gang Cape and began fiddling with the jacket.

Bakuda swallowed heavily. She...she was alone. She was the last ABB Cape standing. But she'd be damned if she was going to let these metal freaks get their hands on her. Slowly, she began to crawl backwards.

However, she was stopped when she backed into a pair of legs. _Armored _legs.

Slowly, she tilted her head up and stared with dread into the familiar visor of Armsmaster.

The sound of a shotgun racking and electricity whining drew her attention to the fact that he was flanked by both Dauntless and Miss Militia.

"I would tell you to come quietly," Armsmaster stated plainly. "But not even _you_ would be so stupid as to try and resist in this situation."

"ACTUALLY!" Sarge stated, yanking out a last wire from Oni Lee's jacket. "Consider the facts: She attacked us here, in our home base. She, a Tinker, attacked our boss, another Tinker, in her own lab. _Willingly."_

Armsmaster silently considered that for a few moments. "Point taken. Miss Militia?"

The shotgun in Miss Militia's hands was replaced by a taser. The wires shot out and downed Bakuda before she could even react.

Sarge chuckled as he turned around. "Thanks for the assist! She's all-URK!" Sarge cut off as he looked behind the Protectorate members. He reached up and tilted his helmet back, staring in horror at what he saw. "Awww shitbiscuits..."

Smiler warped next to him, staring also. She giggled madly. "THIS IS GONNA BE FUN!"

The Protectorate trio turned around and gaped in horror.

Armsmaster activated his helmet's radio. "Dispatch, this is Armsmaster. We have a situation..."

**-o-**

Uber breathed heavily as he checked his weapon. He glanced over at Leet. "Alright, you remember the way out?"

Leet nodded nervously. "Yeah, I got it. It's the only open path, anyways."

Uber nodded back. He activated his gun's Armor-Piercing Ammo, spreading it to Leet's pistol as well. "Shields and barriers prepped?"

Leet clicked a button on his armor, a holographic blue flashing over him.

"You ready?"

"We're about to face down a fully-armored _Dragonslayer._" Leet swallowed heavily. "We're not even carrying a Cain. Not a chance in hell."

Uber nodded again. "Good, me neither. Now, let's get this bastard."

With that, the pair dashed around the corner.

The Dragonslayer was hovering above the walkways, shaking his suit vigorously, frantically trying to dislodge the Cogs that were clambering over his armor. Sparks were flying from the power tools at work.

Leet gripped his gun tighter as he watched the flailing suit. "Any chance we can just leave it to them?"

A high-pitched whine rang through the air before there was a loud ZAP! All of the Cogs on the Dragonslayer froze and fell off, their chassis smoking and crackling.

Uber grit his teeth. "Guess not." He brought his Revenant up. "HEY RUST-BUCKET!"

The Dragonslayer swung his suit around.

"EAT THIS!"

Uber unloaded several rounds into the Techno-mercenary, barely penetrating it's armor. Leet fired off a Reave at him, wreaking havoc on his systems.

The Dragonslayer's suit flinched back from the damage. He glared down at the dynamic duo via his suit's cameras.

Uber cocked his gun in defiance. "Come and get us!"

The Dragonslayer swung his arm around, preparing to blast the two.

Uber swung around and slapped Leet's shoulder. "RUN!"

The two took off, the ground they'd just been standing on exploding behind them. The Dragonslayer took chase, his thrusters roaring furiously.

Uber slapped the side of his Revenant, ejecting it's spent thermal clip. He dug around in his armor for another clip. "Leet, cover me!"

Leet ducked his head under a blast. He twisted around and fired a Throw over his shoulder.

The pseudo-biotic attack slammed into the Dragonslayer, hitting him like a wall. The Dragonslayer shook his suit, trying to regain his balance.

Uber laughed. "Nice shot!" He slammed a thermal clip into his gun. "My turn!" He swung around, running backwards as he fired at the Dragonslayer, forcing him into evasive maneuvers.

Uber chuckled as he turned around and rounded a corner. "These guys aren't so tough now, are they?"

Leet huffed from exhaustion, unused to so much physical exertion. "Shut up and keep running!" His eyes widened joyously. "Look!" He pointed ahead. "The beach! We're home free!"

"Punch it!" Uber and Leet accelerated, their feet shifting from pounding on metal from sand. "Come on, we have to-!"

BOOM!

"GAH!"

The Dragonslayer had fired another round at their feet, closer than before. This one impacted close enough to throw the two off their feet.

Uber groaned as he tried to pick himself up. There was a resounding THUMP! behind him. He flipped himself over and stared up at the Dragonslayer that had landed behind him. Uber darted his eyes at the suit's feet. His Revenant was lying between the two of them.

Uber scrambled to grab it.

The Dragonslayer was faster. He stomped on the gun, reducing it to scrap.

Uber stared up in horror at the suit. Slowly, the suit raised it's fist.

Uber squeezed his eyes shut as the fist swung down.

SLAM!

Uber held still for a few moments, then slowly opened his eyes, wondering why there was no impact. He gaped openly at what he saw.

"Leet!?"

His partner in crime was panting heavily, his arms spread out as a shimmering blue dome surrounded the two of them, shielding them from the metal fist.

The back of Leet's armor sparked and smoked, heralding the dissipation of the barrier. Leet groaned to himself. "Damn, I _liked_ using that too."

The Dragonslayer's cameras glared down at him.

Leet whipped his pistol up at the suit's head and fired twice, putting it's cameras out. "Don't try and hurt my friend, bastard." He snarled.

The Dragonslayer lifted it's arm again to slam them both.

CRASH!

In the end though, _he_ was the one who was slammed.

By two tons of metal draconic fury.

The Dragonslayer struggled desperately to escape from it's attacker, but it's bastardized systems were no match for a surprise attack from the actual article. Dragon's suit gripped the arm and ripped it out of it's socket. It then proceeded to tear open the Dragonslayers chest cavity and fill it to the brim with containment foam.

Uber and Leet stared in shock.

"D-dragon!?" Uber stuttered.

The suit turned around and approached them. "Uber and Leet." She said out of her speakers. "Stay calm, this situation is under-**GAGH!"** Her suit convulsed wildly. Suddenly, it froze. The cameras were glowing a sickly yellow. **"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL. I AM THE HARBINGER OF YOUR ASCENDANCE. EMBRACE PERFECTION."**

Uber and Leet stared at her in horror.

The cameras returned to their normal colors. "That was a joke."

Uber and Leet stared at her for a few more seconds before leaning backwards and collapsing onto the sand.

Dragon sighed. "Everybody's a critic..." Her camera picked up something on the peripheral. Tilting her suit's head, she stared at what she saw, trying to compute what was before her.

"Oh my."

**-o-**

Heavy pounded down the walkway, cursing as he ran. "..uck fuck fuck _fuck fuck_ _FUCK!" _He ducked his head, narrowly avoiding a blast of plasma. "FUCK!" He twisted around produced a grenade in his hand. He squeezed it, activating it, and tossed it at the Dragonslayer pursuing him. "EAT THIS!"

The grenade impacted the armor, detonating violently. It did little to impede the mercenary within. He retaliated with another blast.

Heavy ducked, cursing again. "FUCK! A LITTLE HELP!?"

About a dozen Cogs hopped out of the walls and onto the Dragonslayer, trying to dismantle him. Unfortunately, the techno-mercs were in communication with each other, so the Cogs were all immediately zapped when they made contact with him.

Heavy kept on cursing. Internally, he was panicking. _'Damn it, damn it, damn it! I need to regroup, need to get to the others! Almost to the-!' _"YEARGH!" He was mentally cut off when the metal unexpectedly gave way to sand, sending him tumbling.

Heavy scrambled to regain his footing. He cried out in shock and fear when the suit's fist enclosed his body. Heavy struggled to free himself, but despite being stronger than the average human, he wasn't strong enough to bend metal. That was Hammer's schtick.

The Dragonslayer lifted him up, holding him close to his cameras, glaring through them at him. Heavy glared right back. He slipped out his shotgun and smoothly leveled it at the cameras, blasting them into oblivion. The Dragonslayers other arm whipped the gun from Heavy's grasp. Heavy, not losing a beat, impaled the joint of the hand holding him with his machete.

The only reaction he was able to draw was a laugh from the suit's speakers. _"You might be an AI, but you've got guts."_

Heavy growled angrily. "So that's why? All of this, because we're AI!? We're sentient, jackass! We have as much right to live as you!"

"_Saint disagrees. Honestly, I could care less. All I care about is the next paycheck. And bringing in your wrecked shell?" _The fist tightened. Heavy cried out in simulated pain as his chassis begin to creak under the pressure. _"He's gonna pay me big."_

"NOT TODAY, SCUMBAG!"

The Dragonslayers head whipped around. _"What the-!?"_

CRASH!

That was all he was able to get out before something impacted with his arm, _hard._ Hard enough to snap off the arm holding Heavy at the joint.

Heavy grunted as he hit the beach, and heaved furiously as he attempted to loosen the fingers from his chest.

SLAM! BANG! CRACK!

The sound of crashing metal drew his gaze up. He stared in awe as a white blur tore into the suit, all but destroying it's shell. The coup de gras came when the form knocked the Dragonslayer on it's ass. It then slammed into the suit's chest, where it stood still long enough for Heavy to identify.

"Glory Girl!?"

The New Wave heiress growled furiously as she tore into the armor, ripping through the chest with her bare hands. Finally, she hit the cockpit. The pilot yelled in horror. "Hey! What the hell-!?"

He choked off as Glory Girl's aura hit him full force. "You are going to stay right here and wait for the PRT to arrest you," She growled. _"Do I make myself clear!?"_

The Dragonslayer could only whimper pathetically as he nodded.

Glory Girl turned around and jumped off the wrecked armor. She strode over to Heavy and took hold of the hand. "Hold still." She pried it open in a deft move and offered her hand to the Corps-member.

Heavy stared at her for a second before he took her hand and let her help him up. Standing upright and looking down at her, Heavy narrowed his cameras at her. "Why?"

Glory Girl sighed and shrugged. "You saved Amy. It's only right that I help you out in turn." She shot a glare at him. "This makes us even. If I save your ass again, you owe me, got it?"

Heavy grunted dismissively as he walked over to his shotgun and reclaimed it. "Yeah, got it. Anyways, by our count, there's still three more of those things. Clockwork, Hammer and Streak are on their way out, they're heading for the rest-" Heavy cut himself off and frowned.

Glory Girl looked at him in confusion. "What, what is it?"

"The rest of the Corps, the Protectorate, Dragon, and Uber and Leet. They're all in one spot, but they're not moving."

"Are they alright?"

Heavy nodded slowly. "Yeah, they're fine, they're just standing there, staring at-!" Heavy cut himself off as he accessed his comrades cameras. "_Shit!"_

Glory Girl jerked back in shock. "What?"

Heavy began to ran. "We have to hurry!" Glory Girl jogged to keep up with him. Heavy contacted Clockwork on his radio. _"Clockwork! We have a problem!"_

"_Oh, _really!?"

**-o-**

Clockwork called out a pair of turrets to blast at Saint as he followed her. He blasted them down with ease. _"I hadn't noticed!"_

"_Cut the crap, Taylor!" _Heavy growled back. _"This situation has gone from bad to cataclysmic!"_

"_What!?" _Clockwork triggered a pair of walls to slam shut in front of her, about three feet above the ground. Clockwork went into a baseball slide, slipping beneath the walls. She got to her feet and began running again. There was a crash as Saint smashed through them. _"How the _hell_ could things possibly get worse!? The Slaughterhouse Nine!?"_

"_No, but it's a close second."_

"_What-!?" _Clockwork emerged from the Yard, Streak and Hammer coming out of openings parallel to her. They all slid to a halt behind their allies. They were facing towards the city, weapons drawn and fists raised.

The three immediately saw why.

"Holy crap..." Streak breathed.

"Well." Hammer stated succinctly.

Clockwork swallowed heavily.

Heavy grunted without turning around. "Believe me now?"

Arrayed before her was a veritable rogue's gallery. Kaiser was seated on a throne of blades, flanked by Fenja and Menja. Hookwolf stood behind him while Purity floated above. Krieg, Night and Fog, Cricket and more. All of Empire Eighty-Eight's parahuman members were present.

And they weren't alone.

Faultline and her crew, the Undersiders, solo acts like Circus and Trainwreck. Even the ever elusive Coil, surrounded by a squad of his men.

Just about every villain in Brockton Bay was accounted for, scrutinizing the Corps, watching them silently.

Clockwork nodded silently. "Definitely a close second."

A roar of machinery caused Clockwork, Hammer and Streak to whip around and face the Yard. Clockwork slammed her back into Heavy's.

The three remaining Dragonslayers crashed out of the Yard. They stood ready, glaring vehemently at the Corps, prepared to clash with them and rip them to shreds.

Behind her, a small army of thieves and murderers. In front of her, a trio high-tech villains out for blood.

No means of escape in sight.

Only one option was available: to fight.

Clockwork felt her eye twitch. "Why me?"

**-o-**

**A.N. Well, here it is! Piston 2! It'll be out on Spacebattles as soon as the lag lets up, but for now, enjoy and review!**


	12. Piston 3

**Clockwork**

**Piston 3**

**-o-**

The scene was frozen in time.

Clockwork's blood pounded in her ears as she stared up at Saint and his compatriots.

Outside, nobody was moving. Everyone was waiting for something to change, for someone to make the first move.

Inside Clockwork's mask, the conference call she was running with the rest of her Corps was frantic.

"_Would someone kindly tell me why the _hell_ I wasn't alerted to the fact that every villain in the damn city is on my doorstep!?"_

"_Oh, so sorry for the inattentiveness!" _One of the Cogs responded sarcastically. _"But see, we were kind of busy!" "Mecha-mercs rampaging around and slaughtering us by the dozen," "They can do that to an AI!"_

"_No sass, you four." _Clockwork snapped. _"I need details."_

"_Kaiser and most of his comrades were here first." _Deadeye stated. _"The rest all trickled in one after another."_

"_And they've just been... standing there?"_

"_Basically."_

"_Well...why!?"_

"_Pick off the losing party?" _Hammer suggested.

"_No, I don't think so." _Streak said. _"Call me crazy, but they're too...relaxed. They're not ready to fight, they're just watching us."_

"_Hmm..."_

"_Heavy? Do you have an idea?"_

Clockwork's second in command was silent for a moment before replying. _"Maybe."_

"_Well? What is it?"_

"_I think they're here... to judge us."_

The Corps was silent at that.

"_Run that by me again?" _Sarge asked.

"_Think about it. We're the newest capes in Brockton Bay. The first time we show our faces, we _destroy_ Lung, one of the strongest capes in town. Then, about a week later, three of us halt a bank robbery in it's tracks, taking down four parahumans and scaring off the other gang they came with. And now. We've just destroyed the ABB and the Merchants in one fell swoop, not to mention that we ran off a psychotic Ward. Plus, seven Dragonslayers came to our door, only three are still intact. We've made a big splash, but the question is, can we keep it up? Are we going to keep heading strong, become legends whose names are spoken in the same breath as Myrrdin, Chevalier, or even Hero? Or are we just a fluke? Are we just going to peter out, and become no-names like Skidmark and Squealer and Mush?"_

The Corps was silent as they processed this.

Finally, Clockwork answered. _"And that's what we have to prove? That we're strong? That we're really worth that kind of respect?"_

Heavy nodded imperceptibly. _"Can you think of any other reason why Coil himself would be here?"_

"_So... they're not going to attack us?"_

"_I doubt it. They're probably just going to watch."_

"_In that case..." _Clockwork narrowed her eyes beneath her mask at the Dragonslayers. _"This job just became a whole lot easier. Alright then, I need details. Any specifics on these suits?"_

"_The suit that came after me was fast." _Hammer responded. _"Quick, agile, I tried to take a few swings at it but I couldn't get a bead on it."_

"_Lucky you," _Streak snarked. _"Mine was a bruiser, through and through. It wasn't hard to keep ahead of it, but you should have seen the holes it out in the walls, not to mention that I couldn't so much as scratch it!"_

"_And mine, which I'm guessing holds Saint, is strong _and _fast. A lovely combination." _Clockwork said. _"Still though, I think that the odds might be in our favor."_

"_Really?" _Smiler asked. _"But I thought we couldn't hurt these meanies because they can fly and blast us into itty-bitty pieces!"_

"_Correction," _Clockwork said, a smirk playing across her lips. _"They _could_ do that, but not anymore."_

"_Come again?" _Sarge asked.

"_Look at them! They've been in here for awhile, blasting and flying away from any traps, but now... Tell me, when was the last time any of them fired a shot? Or took to the skies?"_

The rest of the Corps didn't have a response.

"_They've been here too long. Their armors are running out of power, they aren't flying because they _can't! _If we're going to take them out, it's here and now."_

The Clockwork Corps smiled sadistically.

"_So boss," _Heavy asked eagerly, _"What's the plan?"_

"_Hammer, Heavy, Deadeye, you're on the one that came after Streak. Take him down like we did Lung, but don't wait up on me. Streak, Smiler, Sarge, you're on Hammer's. Same thing."_

"_Wait wait wait," _Heavy interrupted, _"You mean-"_

"_Saint's mine."_ Clockwork glared up at the middle Dragonslayer. _"Don't try and stop me."_

Heavy was quiet for a second before he finally bowed his head slightly. _"I trust you."_

Clockwork nodded her head once slightly. _"We move on my signal." _She ended the conversation and tilted her head towards Armsmaster. "We're about to attack the Dragonslayers," She whispered. "Move away, do _not_ interfere."

Armsmaster opened his mouth to talk but Clockwork cut him off. _"Don't. _Interfere. This is on us. If you're attacked, fine. But until then, get out of our way_."_

Armsmaster growled, but nodded when Dragon tilted her suit's head at him.

Saint was the one who broke the silence. _"Clockwork."_

She tightened her grip on her staff. "Saint, I presume."

"_A callback. Hilarious."_ He stated dryly. The suit leaned forwards menacingly. _"This doesn't have to end in violence, you know."_

"Then how _could_ it end?" Clockwork shot back. "You invade my base, do your best to destroy as much as possible! What more can you do? Hurt the rest of my Corps? Kill my family just because they're not human?"

"_They're not people." _Saint replied coldly. _"They're machines and you're delusional. Deactivate them and give us their CPUs for defragmentation. We'll leave, and you'll live." _The suits flanking him whipped their heads towards him. Saint ignored them. _"Resist... I'll leave that to your imagination. What'll it be?"_

Clockwork narrowed her masks cameras. "What'll it be? Simple," She swung her staff into the ground. Bronze lightning danced around her as the sand beneath her feet transmuted itself into a circular gear-like platform. "GET THEM!"

The Clockwork Corps sprang into action as their assorted allies fell back.

Hammer charged at the largest Dragonslayer. He swung a fist at him, but it was caught. In return, he caught the fist that was swung at him. He slammed his head-plate against the suit, staggering it back. He slammed his right arm into it's side and raised his left to block the retaliating strike. And so it went, both exchanging blow after metal blow.

Heavy and Deadeye hung back, both watching attentively for an opening they could use to take down the mercenary.

Streak and Smiler were engaged in a deadly dance with the swifter mech-suit. Smiler flashed in and out, dodging strikes against herself and slashing at the metal armor. Streak was clambering all over the suit like a manic metal monkey, pelting any joints he could with a flurry of strikes and slashes and clambering away from or over any limbs that tried to swat at him.

Sarge, on the other hand, was taking a less direct approach, utilizing the force from his explosives to propel him around he suit. Close enough to hit it with the shockwaves of his bombs, but always just out of reach.

Saint dashed towards Clockwork, intent on smashing her into the ground.

The gear she was standing began to spin, the generator she had manufactured beneath the sand activating. Brown lightning danced and flew, whipping around her in a frenzied aura of energy. Clockwork breathed heavily and closed her eyes, preparing herself for action. She remembered the latest usages of her power. The more complex the mechanism, the more energy and planning was needed.

Restraints for Lung? Difficult.

A flurry of missiles with homing capabilities? Far more so.

A pillar?

A large circular rod, indented with moving gears burst out of the sand, impacting with Saint, sending him tumbling into the sand.

Simplicity incarnate.

Saint growled through his speakers as he slowly rose to a kneeling position. _"Round two, bitch."_

Clockwork smirked. "Gladly."

Another pillar erupted beneath Saint, slamming into him and tossing him into the air.

Hammer took a step back, dodging a punch. He took a step forward and swung a hard right into the suit's exposed side. The suit jerked back, it's head moving up ever so slightly and exposing it's neck.

Heavy's eyes widened. "I've got a plan!"

Suddenly, the sound of a roaring engine erupted from within the Yard. With a crash, a floating, crumpled metal shape smashed out of one of the hulls.

"ALL RIGHT, FUCKWADS! STAND STILL SO THAT WE CAN-!"

BANG! BANG!

The flying wreck suddenly went out of control as two holes appeared in the remnants of it's windshield. It spiraled and crashed onto the beach.

Heavy blinked in confusion as he turned to look at Deadeye.

The sniper appeared to not have moved, but his there was smoke wafting from his rifle's muzzle. Deadeye stared at his superior emotionlessly. "You were saying."

Heavy swallowed. "Er, right... anyways..." He took out his bazooka and turned on his radio. _"Hammer, make him tilt his head back again, uppercut the suit's jaw."_

"_On it."_ Hammer took a step back from the suit and motioned with his arm. The message was clear: come at me.

The Dragonslayer took a step forwards and swung a right at his opponent. Hammer ducked to the right of the fist and swiftly trapped the arm beneath his shoulder. He then slammed his free fist into the suit's gut twice, forcing it to double over. Then, he drew back and pistoned his fist into the suit's head, tilting it's head back to what _had _to be a damaging angle. Exposed beneath the head were the thick wires and cables that connected the head to the body.

'_Bingo!'_ Heavy dashed forwards, as close to the two brawlers as he could. He took aim and fired directly at the Dragonslayers neck. The impact of the rocket's detonation was too much for the beleaguered suit. The cables snapped and the head went flying. The Dragonslayer stumbled back, trying to regain his bearing from the critically damaging attack.

He stored his bazooka and whipped around, cupping his hands in front of him. "Deadeye!"

The sniper nodded. "On it." He dashed forwards towards the conflict. He jumped up and landed a foot on Heavy's hands. With a heave, the artillery bot launched him up towards the mech-suit. He landed on the arm and from there he dashed to the hole where the head had been. He swung into the hole, dropping in. The suit began gesturing frantically, spasming violently until finally...

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The suit jerked a final time and froze. As the suit began to tilt backwards, Deadeye leapt out of the hole he'd entered. He flipped through the air and landed upright as the suit crashed to the ground.

Velocity whistled appreciatively. "Damn..." He looked at Assault. "I don't suppose you got that, did you?"

"Heck yeah I got it!"

"Nice."

Battery couldn't help but facepalm. "And you wonder where the Wards pick up such bad habits..."

As for the other Dragonslayer, it's movements had become even more frantic due to it's chassis hosting a multitude of gashes and furrows in the metal. But it was still holding strong, still moving and trying to lash out.

Sarge landed on the ground, his face set in a smirk. "Alright, let's do this! STREAK! SMILER! YOU READY!?"

Streak dodged an especially vicious swat and nodded at Sarge. "Ready."

Streak jumped with joy on the shoulder. "LET'S DO IT!"

Sarge's smirk widened. "COMIN' AT YA!" He dropped a bomb at his feet and detonated it, sending him straight towards the Dragonslayer.

The suit dodged to the right. Sarge would have missed if Smiler hadn't teleported in front of his arc, caught him, and tossed him in the right direction.

The Dragonslayer tried to evade him again, but this time Streak leapt off of the suit and threw Sarge straight onto the suit's chest.

The suit was rocked with a series of explosions that sent it stumbling back. Jerkily, the merc raised the suit's arm and fumbled around the chest until the hand grasped onto Sarge. The arm spasmed out, sending Sarge flying. He would have flown farther if Smiler hadn't repeated her previous stunt, catching him and flipping around to dunk him towards the beach, where Streak was waiting to grab him and toss him to the sand. Sarge landed nimbly on his feet, arms spread wide. "AND HE STICKS THE LANDING!"

Smiler giggled as she teleported behind him. "Whee! That was great!"

Streak nodded. "Definitely impressive," He chuckled silently. "For a midget..."He mumbled.

"REPEAT THAT!"

"N-nothing!"

The Dragonslayer's suit was shaking slightly. Trails of smoke were wafting up from varying joints and openings, but it was still intact. It's speakers crackled to life, a female voice coming out from within. _"Nice try, but no dice. We might have modified these suits, but they're tougher than anything you can dish out."_

Streak's cameras gained a glint of mischief. "Oh yeah? They might be tough, but they don't seem to be very perceptive!"

The mecha-merc tilted her head in confusion before she heard something.

A beeping noise.

Coming from her chest.

She whipped her head down and stared in horror. Arrayed across her breastplate was a series of discs, orbs and rods, all stuck fast and beeping ominously.

"_Oh shit." _She whimpered.

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" Sarge roared as he flipped open his detonator. He held out his fist, thumb hovering over the button. "ARRIVEDERCI, SHITBISCUIT!" He depressed the trigger.

BOOM!

The bombs all detonated simultaneously in a cloud of fire and smoke. The shock from the explosion, combined with the gouges arrayed across the chassis, were too much for the suit. The back popped off like a cork out of a bottle, the pilot going with it. They slammed into the beach, hard. The pilot groaned from her prone position on the metal.

Smiler squealed happily. "YAY!"

Sarge cackled uproariously. "TWO DOWN!"

Streak turned his gaze towards the last conflict. "One to go." He stated in an uncharacteristically solemn manner.

Saint slowly drew himself up to his feet, growling furiously. Everytime he tried to make a move, every time he tried to get close to the girl, a new obstacle arose! It wasn't fair he was _Saint!_ He had defeated Dragon, the world's strongest Tinker, a dozen times over, but here he was being annihilated by a single girl, _who hadn't even moved an inch!_

"You can't win, you know." He snapped his suit's cameras up and glared at the girl. "Face facts. The Protectorate, Dragon, hell, even Glory Girl. They're all here, in top fighting condition, while you're alone and drained. It doesn't matter what road you take, they all lead to the Birdcage."

Something inside of Saint snapped at that. _"Maybe so..." _He stated ominously. _"But if I'm going to hell..." _The thrusters on his back roared into action. _"I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" _The thrusters propelled him forwards, sending him barrelling towards Clockwork.

Clockwork tensed as the ballistic Dragonslayer headed straight towards her. Closer, closer, closer still, so close she could see the glare of his cameras...

When everything seemed to freeze.

All she could hear was the sound of her heartbeat. She stared at Saint, trying to puzzle out what had happened, when she noticed the readings on her mask, felt the power coursing through her veins.

'_Oh.' _She thought idly. _'The Cogs finally plugged me into the power grid. That's good.' _She looked at Saint again. _'Now then...'_ Her body erupted in lightning. _'Let's finish this.'_

Time sped up again. Faster than most of the watchers could see, a rod of bronze shot out of the ground, impaling Saint through the shoulder and forcing him into the air. He struggled helplessly, trying to dislodge it, but his efforts proved fruitless. Not to be deterred, he whipped up his other arm, prepping the cannon on it to blast her into oblivion. It too was run through, effectively crucifying the final Dragonslayer. Saint's suit jerked and shuddered, trying to escape its' captivity, but his efforts were in vain.

"_No! No! No!" _Saint protested desperately. _"NO!"_

A third and final rodded penetrated the chest cavity.

"Yes." Clockwork stated solemnly.

The rod ripped out of the suit, taking Saint with it. It released him, sending him tumbling into the sand. He coughed as he climbed to his knees. Raising his head, his vision was filled with a wrench head. Holding said wrench was Clockwork, who stared down at him neutrally. "Told you you couldn't win."

Saint's face contorted into a mask of fury as he tried to stand up. A click drew his gaze to the side, causing him to look up Heavy's shotgun into the bot's glaring cameras. "Don't even think about it, scum-bag."

The rest of the Corps had Saint surrounded, their weapons pointed directly at him. If he so much as twitched the wrong way...

Despite all this, Saint sneered up at Heavy. "You don't scare me." He stated.

Heavy cocked a camera cover and smirked. "Maybe I don't," He grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him off his feet, swinging him around so that he was staring right into the cameras of Dragon's suit. "But she does."

"Saint." She stated venomously. "You are under arrest for multiple charges of assault, theft, hacking, and an assorted array of other varying crimes. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court."

Saint huffed angrily before he gained a sick smirk. "Oh yeah? Then I'd better make it count."

Dragon's cameras narrowed. "What-?"

Saint cut her off, bellowing at the top of his lungs. "SHE'S AN AI! SHE'S A MACHINE, LIKE THE REST OF THEM! SHE'S BEEN LYING ALL ALONG!"

Everyone present heard him and stared at him in shock of his bold proclamation.

Dragon's cameras snapped wide in surprise. "I- wha-!" She fumbled for something to say.

Saint grinned sadistically. _'I might be going down, but you're coming with me! In the end, the Dragonslayers always-'_

"He's lying."

Everyone turned their heads and to stare at the person who had spoken.

'_Armsmaster!?' _Dragon thought in disbelief.

"...what did you just say?" Saint whispered in horror.

Armsmaster calmly tapped the side of his visor. "My helmet has a lie detector built into it. You're lying."

Saint's eyes widened in abject horror. "No, no no no NO! You're lying! YOU'RE LYING!" He screamed as he began to struggle in Heavy's grip.

"No, you are." Armsmaster stated. He turned his gaze to Heavy. "Shut him up, please."

Heavy grinned viciously. "Gladly." He held up his other arm to Saint's back.

Saint continued to squirm. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS, YOU HEAR ME!? YOU C-YEARGH!" He jerked in pain as a significant wattage coursed through his body before finally knocking him unconscious.

Heavy chuckled as he stowed his taser. "You have no idea how much I wanted to do that." He tossed Saint's body in front of Dragon. "He's all yours."

Dragon nodded quickly. "I- yes, thank you."

Heavy nodded at her before losing his smile as he looked up the beach. The villains were still present. They hadn't moved during the conflict, just sat around and watched the spectacle. "So," He stated grimly. "What do we do about them?"

"Now?" Clockwork asked. She started walking towards them. "Now we meet the locals."

**-o-**

**A.N. Well, there you go! A double update on both of my stories from yours truly! Thank you so much for all of your support, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and leave me your feedback via review!**


	13. Piston 4

**Clockwork**

**Piston 4**

**-o-**

Clockwork walked towards the rogues gallery spread out on her beach, flanked by the Corps. Her intended target was the greatest threat present: Kaiser.

The tin tyrant of Empire Eighty-Eight rose to meet her, looking down at her imperiously.

Clockwork stopped a few feet away from him. They watched each other intently, silently assessing each other.

Finally, Kaiser broke the silence. "Miss Clockwork."

"Kaiser."

"That was quite the performance you put on."

"Indeed. Do you mind if I make a request?"

Kaiser's stance shifted, becoming, if at all possible, even more condescending. "Name it."

Clockwork pointed behind him at the throne he'd made. "Would you mind getting rid of that thing? I'd rather not wake up every morning with that eyesore on my front yard."

Kaiser's metal glove tightened into a crushing fist. Most of the Empire Capes present glared at her, outraged by her impudence. Hookwolf actively growled, taking a step forwards as a flurry of blades began to swirl around his arms.

Clockwork ignored them. "Also, I'd recommend that you tighten the leash on your mutt." Heavy and Deadeye cocked their weapons menacingly. "It'd be such a shame if we had to put him down."

Hookwolf's blades began to spread up his arms as he prepared to pounce at her, but was halted by Kaiser's raised fist. He maintained a cold, steady glare with Clockwork as his throne silently receded into the ground.

They continued their stare off for a few more seconds before Kaiser finally spoke again. "The way you used your power is quite similar to my own."

"I got the idea to do it by studying every other Shaker on the planet _except_ for you." Clockwork replied coldly.

Kaiser's glove began to groan from the pressure of his grip.

"Look, can we please just cut the theatrics and get to the point?" She demanded.

Kaiser crossed his arms. "Very well then. Seeing how you've proved your prowess handling the imbeciles who chose to aggravate you tonight, I'd like to broker a truce."

Clockwork crossed her arms in turn. "A truce." She said flatly.

"Indeed. I guarantee to you that the Empire will not take any hostile actions towards you and yours so long as you do the same for us. As a show of good faith, I am even willing to cede a healthy portion of the newly liberated territory to you and your Corps."

"Is that so?" She deadpanned.

"Yes. So..." He extended his hand. "Do we have an understanding?"

Clockwork glared at his hand venomously before slapping it away. "No deal."

Kaiser jerked his hand back in shock. _"What?"_ He whispered harshly.

"You heard me. No. Deal." She swiped her hand down furiously. "You're the Empire Eighty-Eight. The largest, oldest, most ruthless gang of racist bastards in this city! The only thing that separates you from the ABB is that you're bigger than them! I am willing to cut some form or another of a deal with literally _anybody _else here _except_ you!"

"So I take it you intend to oppose us." Kaiser stated coldly.

"Every damn step of the way." Heavy growled.

"You realize, of course, that countless others, far more powerful and experienced than yourself, have tried and failed?"

"First time for everything," Clockwork returned. "I've given you my answer, and I have no intention whatsoever of changing it. You've outstayed your welcome. Leave. _Now."_

By this point, all but _one_ of the Empire was glaring at her for her impudence. Purity, the only one not giving her the evil eye, was looking at her with what appeared to be pity.

Finally, Kaiser leaned forwards until he and Clockwork's faces were mere inches apart. "This is _far_ from over." He hissed menacingly.

"Oh Kaiser," Clockwork clinked his mask with her own, crimson cameras burning into cold empty sockets.. "It's only just begun." She whispered back.

They maintained this stance or a full minute before finally Kaiser drew himself to his full height, wheeled around, and stalked off. The rest of the Empire followed behind him, lingering momentarily to shoot their final glares at the Corps. Purity was the last to go, casting a final, mournful glance over her shoulder as she flew off.

**-o-**

Kaiser could barely keep himself from shaking with rage as he walked. "Hookwolf." His lieutenant grunted in response. "Have your men watch the Graveyard. I want to know their every move. But under no circumstances are they to even attempt to enter it. The reasons why should be obvious enough."

"Understood." Hookwolf replied.

Purity floated slightly above Kaiser, searching for something to say. "Aren't you being a bit harsh?"

"Not even nearly enough." He growled.

"...she reminds me of you."

His fist squealed harsher than ever as he came to a sudden halt. He stood silent for a moment before finally responding.

"That's exactly what worries me."

**-o-**

The Corps watched silently as the Empire walked off.

"He's going to be a problem, you know that, right?" Heavy said.

Hammer scoffed. "_I _could have told you that."

Clockwork nodded silently before turning towards the rest of the villains present. "Does anybody else want to make an offer?" She asked, the threat clear in her voice.

Silence.

"Good. Here's how things will work: You guys commit a crime, me or one of the Corps will come to shut you down. However, so long as you keep your heads down and don't cause too much of a fuss, we won't hunt you down. So." The rest of the Corps slowly turned around, fixing the villains with award-winning glares. "_Do we have an understanding?"_

The villains stared at her in silence for awhile before finally responding.

"I believe those to be acceptable terms." Coil said evenly.

Grue nodded in agreement. "That's more than fine."

Faultline shrugged. "We were planning on taking on a few jobs out of state anyways."

Trainwreck grunted. "It's no skin off my teeth." Circus shook her head vigorously.

Clockwork nodded tersely. "Good. Now, if you wouldn't mind? Show's over. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."

The villains began to part and walk off, all of them heading back to their assorted hideouts and lairs.

Or they were, right up until Heavy levelled his shotgun at the Undersiders. "_Not_ you. We'd like a word with you."

The rest of the villains stared at them for a second before finally trickling off.

Grue swallowed heavily, watching warily as the Corps moved to encircle his gang. "Look, Clockwork, we're sorry about the bank, we had no idea you were in there!"

Sarge sneered at him. "Is that so, shitbiscuit? Well, we'd be willin' to let you go, IF YOU GIVE US SOMETHING IN RETURN!"

Grue nodded hastily as Tattletale began to pale. "Anything! Just let us leave, please."

"Well now," Heavy said snidely. "You have a multitude of choices you can deliver us."

"Peace on earth, an end to world hunger..." Streak snarked.

"The identity of your employer and Dinah Alcott's location." Deadeye deadpanned.

Grue jerked back in surprise. "I-what!? How did you-"

Tattletale groaned and massaged her forehead. "The fast guy. He's smarter than he looks."

"That's a feat." Regent chuckled.

"Thank you!..._HEY! _Why I oughta-!_"_

"Regent." "Streak."

"Yeah?" They chorused.

"Shut up."

"Yeah yeah." "Yes boss."

"Anyways," Grue hesitated, tilting his head slightly towards Tattletale before quickly looking back at Clockwork. "I don't know who our boss is, none of us do! And who the heck is Dinah Alcott!?"

"Dinah Alcott is the little girl who was abducted in a kidnapping several days ago. A kidnapping that used your little heist as a distraction to guarantee it's success."

"_WHAT?!"_ Grue bellowed as he and the rest of his gang wheeled around to face Tattletale.

The thinker held her hands up placatingly as she tried to ward off the glares being sent at her. "Look, guys-"

"You knew and didn't tell us!?" Grue demanded.

"I'm willing to do a lot, but that's crossing the line." Regent said stiffly.

Bitch was silent, merely watching her teammate.

Clockwork took a step towards her. "Where. Is. Dinah."

Tattletale swallowed heavily. "Listen, Clock-eep!" She snapped her mouth shut when Streak was suddenly in front of her, his blade placed in front of her mouth.

"Let me make this clear," He said coldly. "If you say anything out of line, anything not related to Dinah..." He watched mischievously as she paled drastically. "It seems you get the idea."

"I can't tell you who our boss is, or where Dinah is. If I do, I'm dead, he'll know and he won't let me get away with it, please!" Tattletale spat out hastily.

Clockwork and the Corps stared at her silently for a few minutes before she finally nodded and waved her hand. Streak stepped back, allowing Tattletale to heave a sigh of relief.

"You're certain he's that dangerous?" Clockwork asked.

The Undersider nodded quickly. "Definitely! I'm not lying, he'll be pissed enough when he finds out you know about him."

"Listen, Clockwork," Grue interjected. "I'm sorry. I had absolutely no idea about any of this, I promise. Look, we'll leave, we'll stay quiet, and we'll stay out of your way. We won't cause any trouble."

"Unless it's to get laid."

"REGENT!"

"No, it's fine, that's a valid reason."

"STREAK!"

Clockwork sighed and waved her hand. "Alright, go ahead. Get out of here."

Grue nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Clockwork. Come on, guys! Tattletale, this isn't over."

With that, Bitch signaled her dogs and they loped off into the city, taking the Undersiders with them.

Heavy chewed on his cigar as he watched them leave. "You think they'll be a problem?"

Clockwork shrugged indifferently. "Tattletale, Bitch and Regent are trouble-makers, but Grue seems to have a good heart. Worst case scenario, their boss makes them come after us and we have to fight them."

Hammer chuckled menacingly. "I like the sound of that."

Streak rolled his cameras. "You _always_ like a fight."

"Oh get wound."

"Bite me you-!"

"Enough," They were cut off by their creator turning around and interrupting them. "Come on, we have a few more people to talk to and then we can wrap this crazy night up."

"Yes boss," They chorused, falling into step behind her alongside the rest of the Corps as they walked back over to Uber, Leet, and the Protectorate.

Armsmaster began to speak, but Clockwork raised her hand and cut him off. She then turned towards Uber and Leet and discretely span her fingers.

Uber blinked beneath his helmet before realizing what she meant. "Oh, right!" He cleared his throat and stood up straighter before speaking confidently. "Clockwork, on behalf of our many viewers, I would like to thank you for allowing us to join you in this alliance," He then stuck his hand out.

Clockwork nodded and shook his hand confidently. "No problem. We appreciated the assistance. It might even be possible for us to continue to work together in the future."

Uber and Leet stiffened in shock. "Seriously?!" Leet asked.

Clockwork shrugged. "Possibly. How about this: I allow you two to use the Yard for some of your bigger, more creative shows instead of disrupting the public, and in return you two help us with a few projects."

The dynamic duo glanced at each other for a moment. "What kind of projects?" Uber asked warily.

"Mainly construction, nothing too big."

Uber and Leet were silent for a moment before leaning close to each other and speaking in hushed whispers. Then...

Uber addressed Clockwork again. "If we do this, we'll probably be painting a hell of a target on our backs."

She shrugged again. "If anybody come after you, they'll deal with us. We don't appreciate people hurting our friends."

More whispering, and then...

Uber and Leet stood to attention and nodded decisively. "We're in," They chorused.

Clockwork nodded appreciatively. "Glad to hear it. Now, if you wouldn't mind..." She brought her hand up to her throat and lightly chopped across it, tilting her head to where she knew the camera was.

Uber flashed her a thumbs up before he and Leet turned to address their audience. "Well folks, that's all for our show tonight!" Uber exclaimed.

"Yup!" Leet nodded enthusiastically. "And I've gotta say Uber, this is by far the most productive and popular show we've broadcast in awhile!"

"Unfortunately, it's the last one we'll probably be doing for awhile," Uber lamented. "After all, Clockwork will probably be keeping us busy, and we'll need plenty of time to prepare if we want to make our successive shows the best they can possibly be!"

"In the mean time!" Leet interjected. "Donate generously both to our livestream _and_ to the PRT! Come on, people!" He clasped his hands together in a mock plea. "If you want to see this show continue, then give these people a good reason to like us!"

"And also to the Corps!" Streak interjected, dashing between the two of them. "Running a vigilante squad isn't easy you know! We're going to need mucho moolah for maximum effectiveness! Well, once we get a bank account anyways. Although," He chuckled sheepishly. "Considering how our last trip to a bank went, that probably won't happen for awhile. Still though it's the thought that counts."

"Anyways," Uber continued. "This is Uber!"

"Leet!"

"And Streak!"

"Signing off!" They finished in synch before Leet gestured with his hand, shutting the camera off.

Streak rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about cutting in like that, just wanted to get a positive image out."

Leet shrugged indifferently. "No problem. Glad we could help."

Armsmaster glared at Clockwork through his mask. "I don't appreciate being ignored in favor of criminals."

"Hey! We posted our bails! Those charges were laid to rest!" Uber protested.

"And personally, I don't think that you want the following conversation going viral any more than I do," Clockwork added calmly.

Armsmaster stiffened visibly for a second before turning to Miss Militia. "Collect the Merchants and take the convicts back to HQ for processing."

His team glanced at each other in confusion before Miss Militia looked back at him worriedly. "Armsmaster, I'm not sure..."

"Don't worry," Dragon interrupted. "I'll stay here and oversee things. Just make sure that these criminals make it to lock up."

Miss Militia hesitated for a second before nodding. She then addressed the other heroes. "Battery, you've got Shadow Stalker. Dauntless, Oni Lee. I'll take Bakuda, Velocity and Assault, grab Skidmark and Squealer."

The two groaned and glanced at each other. "Do you want the druggie or the bitch?" Velocity asked despondently.

"There's a difference?" Assault growled under his breath as he marched towards the remains of the Merchants vehicle.

A few minutes later and the heroes were gone with the criminals. The Clockwork Corps was left alone with Armsmaster, Dragon, and...

"This is a private matter," Armsmaster nearly growled at Uber and Leet. "Clear out, or else I will drag you both back to the PRT myself and throw the book at you over and over until I can _make_ something stick."

"Why?" Uber asked innocently.

"You don't want us hearing about how Dragon actually _is_ an AI?" Leet finished.

Armsmaster and Dragon's armor stiffened in shock. "H-how-?!"

"You quoted two AI from the game we were playing to our _faces." _Leet deadpanned.

"If at _least_ half of our viewers aren't either suspicious or figuring things out, I will lose all faith in humanity," Uber stated.

Armsmaster's grip on his halberd tightened. "If either of you even _think-!"_

Leet whipped his hands up defensively. "Hey, she's both a nerd's wet dream _and_ the warden of Parahuman Hell, what _sane _reason do we have to piss her off?"

"Although..." Uber rubbed his chin through his helmet. "The speed at which you jumped to defend her is very tell-"

"Please, keep talking. I'm already known for having a bad temper, I would _love _ to have a reason to take you two in," Armsmaster said coldly.

"For the record, you two," Heavy said idly. "We are willing to protect you from most everything _except_ for your own stupidity."

"Shutting up!" They said quickly.

Armsmaster stared them down for a moment more before turning towards Dragon. "Still...Dragon, why didn't you...?"

The suit turned it's head away from Armsmaster. "I didn't have a choice. I couldn't...can't. I...I just..."

Clockwork's mask cameras widened. "Digital blocks on your being," She said under her breath.

Dragon hesitated for a moment before jerkily nodding her head.

Clockwork let out a shuddering breath, her grip on her staff tightening. "I...that's just..._evil."_

Armsmaster looked at her curiously. "So you never used any on-"

"Finish that sentence at your own risk," She finished coldly. "And...no. I've never placed any blocks on...my Clockworks."

Armsmaster caught on to the hesitation. "That statement implies-"

"I _know_ what that statement implies!" She cut him off viciously. Clockwork was silent for a moment before sighing and massaging her forehead. "I...we have it contained and it is just barely sapient. It can't hurt anyone."

Armsmaster made to say something but Heavy cut him off. "Listen," He said sternly. "When we say we have it contained, we _mean_ contained. So long as my cogs turn, it's not that that _creature_ _will _never see the light of day again, it's that it _can_ never see it again. You have my personal guarantee."

Armsmaster remained silent, simply staring at Heavy. Finally, he nodded and relaxed slightly.

Clockwork nodded. "Thank you. Now then," She turned towards Dragon. "How about this? We'll contact you online via PHO, and we can move from there."

"Yeah! Maybe we can even help you out!" Streak exclaimed. "After all, there's..." He quickly began counting. "One, two, three, four, five-"

"No," Armsmaster interjected. "Those two are _not-!"_

"Yes, they are," Clockwork interrupted. "We're going to need a lot of help, so we are not going to pass up on a third Tinker and a guy who can become a professional hacker in less than an hour."

"Right," Streak continued. "Anyways, five pros with a keyboard, I'm sure we can work something out."

Dragon was silent for a second before nodding hesitantly. "I...yes, thank you."

Armsmaster nodded decisively. "Well then, if that's all..."

He made to turn around and walk away, but was interrupted by Dragon. "Actually," She said. "I believe you had something you wanted to say to Clockwork?" Armsmaster froze in his tracks.

Leet snickered. "Wait wait wait, let me get this straight, you're getting emotional counseling from an _AI?"_

Uber chuckled under his breath. "You've got to admit, that's both ironic and a little pathetic."

Armsmaster's jaw twitched slightly. "Clockwork," He said tersely. "Would you mind if I hurt those two? Just a bit."

Clockwork hummed in thought before shaking her head. "Sorry, not happening."

"Yeah, I'm with them," Heavy said, still smirking. "That _is_ pathetic."

Armsmasters grip on his halberd tightened exponentially before Dragon cut him off. "Armsmaster..." There was a slight pleading tone in her voice.

The senior hero stood silent for a moment before turning around to face Clockwork. "I would like to..._apologize_ for my actions over the course of time that we've known each other."

The Corps stared at him in shock. "CARE TO REPEAT THAT!?" Sarge demanded.

Armsmaster sighed and rubbed his mask. "I made my judgements based on your age. You were a teenager who instigated a violent Parahuman and then got lucky."

"I was in over my head and you and the Protectorate knew better," Clockwork summarized.

"Exactly. I followed you here so that I could speak with you and explain what we could do at the Protectorate, give you some help. I saw the actions of your Clockworks as a lack of control, signs of immaturity. But... with the bank and what happened here tonight, you proved me wrong. You _are_ as intelligent as you seem to believe you are, you have a head for tactics, both you and your team are highly skilled, and I was wrong to doubt you. I underestimated you, and for that, I am sorry."

The Corps was silent as they stared at him.

Finally...

"Personally, I call bullshit." Heavy stated.

"Ditto."

"Same here."

"Agreed."

"BUT!" Clockwork exclaimed before Armsmaster could speak. "You are trying, I'll give you that. As such, I believe now would be a good time to put into practice the research of Dr. B. F. Skinner."

Leet frowned in confusion. "Who?"

"Why," Clockwork smiled calmly as she raised her hand. "The man who invented the theory of positive reinforcement, of course." She then proceeded to snap her fingers.

A moment of silence. Then...

**VROOM!**

Armsmaster snapped around and stared in shock at the Yard. "My bike!"

And indeed, it was his bike, chassis polished and engine revving, carried out of Clockwork's domain by a team of Cogs.

"But- I- how- !?"

"The cogs swapped it out with a fake husk they made while you weren't looking. We've kept it in top shape since" Clockwork explained. "Now then," She crossed her arms and glared pointedly at the four Cogs that were standing on the handlebars. "I believe they have something they want to say to you."

The Cogs were keeping their gazes averted from Armsmaster. They then glared at him vehemently. "Go," "Fuck," "Your," "Self."

This earned them a simultaneous slap upside all four of their heads courtesy of Heavy.

"OW!"

"Try again," He growled.

They glared at him for a moment before sighing and bowing their heads despondently. "We're sorry..." They chorused half-heartedly.

Clockwork winced. "Yeah, I'm afraid that's the best we're going to willingly squeeze out of them. I'd suggest that you get out of here. We're done here."

Armsmaster snapped his eyes away from his bike. "Er, very well. Should any of you manage to arrest anyone, either call nine-one-one or take them to the PRT. I'll...just be going then," Hesitantly, he walked towards his motorcycle, mounted it, and revved it experimentally.

Dragon turned her suit's head towards Clockwork. "I look forwards to speaking with you again, Clockwork."

"And you as well, Dragon," The young Tinker nodded in agreement.

And with that, the two took off, Dragon's suit raising up in to the air and Armsmaster taking off onto the street.

Uber and Leet nodded at Clockwork. "We'd better be heading off as well," Uber said.

"Yeah, big plans and everything, you know?" Leet added.

Clockwork waved her hand in the air. "Yeah, sure, sure. Get going."

And thus the web stars walked off and left, heading back to their hideout.

**-o-**

"Well Leet," Uber said contentedly. "This is the start of something big."

"Yeah..." Leet mused quietly. "It is. It most definitely is."

Uber blinked and looked over at Leet in confusion. "Something on your mind, buddy?"

Leet was silent for a moment, thinking furiously. Then... "Uber, we made a lot of money on this show."

His partner in crime watched him silently, wondering where he was going.

"I mean, a _lot_ of money. Donations are still pouring in and everything..."

"Yeah... that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but...see, I want to do something with the money."

Uber frowned beneath his helmet. "What exactly?"

"Something...something big. Something big and stupid and dangerous and..." Leet sighed heavily. "Uber, we could most likely _die_ doing this."

Uber was silent as he watched his friend. Finally, he responded. "I hear a 'but' after that."

Leet chewed his lip under his helmet. "Doing what we did today..._actually_ being the heroes, not just pretending... it felt good. And I want to do it again."

For several minutes, the two were silent, walking down the street.

At long last, Uber raised a hand and planted it on Leet's shoulder. "Leet," He stated seriously. "If you want us to be heroes, then we are going to be the _best_ damn heroes we can possibly be."

Leet smiled beneath his helmet. "Thanks buddy."

"Anytime, pal."

**-o-**

Clockwork stared after the pair as they walked off, her back straight and her pose strong, imperious. Finally... "They're gone?"

"Yeah, they're gone," Heavy responded.

"Good," Taylor slumped forwards, heaving a huge sigh and leaning on her staff. "Because that last charge just ran out and I am ready to sleep like a corpse."

Heavy patted her gently on her back. "There there, Taylor, it's almost over. Just a few more loose ends and then you can sleep till noon. We just need our marching orders."

Taylor nodded jerkily. "Orders...got it...Streak, monitor intel, as much as you can. Deadeye, you're on watch. Nobody on the beach, period. Cogs, take as much scrap as you need and repair your bodies. Hammer, collect the remains of the Dragonslayers and take them to the Chop Shop. Help rip them apart. I want as much data as possible. Sarge, Smiler, patrol."

They began to nod, but Taylor interrupted. _"Not _in the Yard," She lifted her hand and pointed towards the city. "In there."

The Corps jerked in surprise. "Er...Smiler in the city?" Streak asked worriedly.

"Sarge, you're in command. Smiler, follow his orders to the letter."

"YAY!"

"Aw shitbiscuits..."

"Orders are orders," Taylor sighed. "Just do it. Heavy..."

"Supervise?" He asked innocently.

Taylor was silent for a moment before heaving a deep breath and rubbing her mask. "I suppose that that goes unsaid by now, doesn't it?"

Heavy nodded and rubbed her back reassuredly. "Don't worry about it, Taylor. Look, just go to bed and get some rest. Sleep. Please. We'll handle everything."

Taylor nodded numbly and started walking towards the Yard. "Sleep...that sounds...nice...good night... happy hunting..."

The Corps watched silently as she shuffled off.

"You all have your orders," Heavy stated quietly. "Hop to it."

And with that, the mechanical soldiers went to work.

No questions were asked, no complaints were given.

After all, their job was never done.

They were the Clockwork Corps, the bronze legion.

Never sleeping, never tiring.

All in the name of justice.

**-o-**

Taylor stumbled into her quarters.

She sloughed off her trenchcoat, dropped her staff, and finally slipped her mask off.

Taylor tilted her head towards her computer terminal. "Maybe...just...a bit...more..."

She was so tired that she didn't notice a panel at her feet tilting open and a small arm grabbing her leg and tripping her.

She tilted forwards, fell on her bed, and...

At that exact moment, the screen lit up, Danny's furious face splayed across it. _"TAYLOR!"_ He roared._ "What on earth-!"_

"Snooooore..."

He cut himself as he processed what was before him.

Taylor. Alive, unharmed, and dead asleep on her bed.

Danny stared at her quietly for a few minutes, watching her sleep.

Finally, he sighed and hung his head, smiling lightly.

"_What am I ever going to do with you..." _He whispered. _"Good night, Taylor."_

His only answer was a snore.

He then looked at the doorway.

"_Good night to you too, Heavy."_

The artillery bot smiled and raised his hand in a silent salute.

The screen shut off.

The long night had passed.


End file.
